U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO: A TPP Failure Will Give China Upper Hand
U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue is pushing the Trans-Pacific Partnership [TPP] as a way to help grow the U.S. economy and create jobs.
“First of all, we must do the pacific trade agreement and get it done by the end of this year” Donohue told the FOX Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo.
Donohue warned that if the deal does not go through, China will become even more powerful.
“We need it for two fundamental reasons, it will significantly increase jobs in this country. It will significantly increase jobs and economic development in our trading partners. And the second reason, if we fail to do it, all those countries in the pacific wing are only going to have one place to go for their economic and other issues and that’s with China. We have to do this deal.”
Clinton and Trump are opposed to TPP. That opposition says Donohue is an old-trick on the campaign trail.
“Let me explain something, when you look at what happened in France, when the president is running for office and all of a sudden his polls go in the can, the first thing he does is say ‘we’re not going to do a trade deal with the United States because of agriculture and because of our culture. It’s an easy way to cover up your other shortcomings, blame it on somebody else.”
Donohue added their opposition is a form of a scare tactic.
“I’m saying when you get into presidential politics, and even politics in the Senate and the House, people never want to talk about the real issues. You have to find the things you can scare people about or you think they’ll understand, or who you’re going to blame, you never blame yourself.”