QuickTake Q&A: Why Democrats Are Chanting ‘No TPP’ at Convention

At first blush, the "No TPP" signs at the Democratic National Convention might suggest some kind of derogatory adjective being applied to the Trump-Pence Republican ticket. In fact, Democrats waving those signs are rallying against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade deal that has driven a wedge between many Democrats and their president, Barack Obama. The animosity is a reminder of how difficult it will be for Obama to win congressional ratification of the trade deal before he leaves office in January 2017. With Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton a late convert to the TPP opposition -- and her running mate, Tim Kaine, an even later convert -- it seems clear that the next president will be, at the very least, less of a TPP fan than Obama is.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership, known in some countries as the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), was negotiated by 12 nations representing 40 percent of the world’s economy -- Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the U.S. and Vietnam. It would expand free-trade rules to agriculture and services, encompass the digital economy and offer stronger protections for intellectual property.