As small signs of bipartisanship are popping up between the White House and Congress, President Barack Obama is also preparing for a potential battle against members of his own party over U.S. trade policy.
Leaders in Congress reached a tentative deal last week on a measure that would give Obama the authority to fast-track trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership through Congress without amendments, but that hasn’t stopped Congressional Democrats from voicing their skepticism.
“On all of the major issues in the negotiations, the negotiating objectives are obsolete or woefully inadequate,” Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Michigan) said in a statement last week responding to the fast-track deal. “We can’t expect to get the best deal if we are not asking for the right things.”
Obama is expected to focus on his message of competition and having learned lessons from the past in an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, scheduled to take place Tuesday afternoon from the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce. Obama’s been defending his administration’s approach since last week.
“The politics around trade has always been tough, particularly in the Democratic Party,” he conceded at a press conference on Friday, “because people have memories of outsourcing and job loss.”
Obama says his administration insists the final TPP agreement will be fair to American workers and help promote American products abroad.
With Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe coming to Washington next week, the Obama administration is under pressure to pave the way for a TPP deal.
“It would be good if I could reach an agreement during my meeting with the president, but when you climb a mountain, the last step is always the hardest,” Abe told the Wall Street Journal on Monday. “Ultimately, what needs to happen is for both countries to make a political decision” to address these sensitive areas.”
Abe said the gaps between the U.S. and Japan are narrowing, but more work needs to be done.
If the fast track authority bill passes, that could go a long way towards assuring the U.S.’s international partners that any deal reached by diplomats at the negotiating table can be implemented without interference from Congress.
In his press conference on Friday, Obama used Japan as an example for why a trade deal with Asia is necessary to ensure American products can compete in the world’s markets.
“Now, the last time I checked, if you drive around Washington, there are a whole bunch of Japanese cars,” Obama said. “You go to Tokyo and count how many Chryslers and GM and Ford cars there are.”
“So the current situation is not working for us,” he added. “And I don’t know why it is that folks would be opposed to us opening up the Japanese market more for U.S. autos, or U.S. beef. It doesn’t make any sense.”
The issue of trade has become a point of contention on the 2016 campaign trail, where some potential Democratic contenders are using the issue to draw a sharper distinction between themselves and front-runner Hillary Clinton.
“Bad trade deals have sent American jobs and American profits abroad,” former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley said at a speech on Thursday. “We must stop entering into bad trade deals-bad trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership-that hurt middle-class wages and ship middle-class jobs overseas. And we certainly shouldn’t be fast-tracking failed deals.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont, another opponent of the proposed trade deal with Asia who is considering a run for the presidency, called on Clinton to take a stronger stance against TPP.
“My strong hope is that Secretary Clinton and all candidates, Republicans and Democrats, will make it clear that the Trans-Pacific Partnership should be rejected and that we must develop trade policies that benefit working families, not just Wall Street and multi-national corporations,” he said in a statement.