Three cheers for President Obama. Seriously.
The United States and 11 other nations — including Canada, Japan, Chile, Australia, Malaysia and Vietnam — on Monday announced final agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
The TPP accord has long been a major Obama goal. Once adopted by all 12 countries, it will cover 40 percent of the world economy. As the president noted, the deal “levels the playing field for our farmers, ranchers and manufacturers by eliminating more than 18,000 taxes that various countries put on our products.”
The US economy can certainly use that boost — but there’s also a national-security angle. The partnership will inevitably build closer ties among its members, countering an increasingly ambitious China.
But Monday’s agreement is just the end of the beginning for TPP: Obama still has to get Congress to pass it, and that’s no done deal.
The president just barely got the House and Senate to give him the “fast track” authority to conclude the accord, and guarantee each chamber holds an up-or-down vote on it. Now he needs to persuade enough Republicans and Democrats to vote “up.”
Thing is, the Democratic base has largely turned against free trade. Hillary Clinton has ruthlessly fudged the issue — and never mind her full-throated support for TPP as Obama’s secretary of state.
The president will have to twist arms and insist on loyal support from members of his own party.
Meanwhile, he needs to stop burning bridges with Republicans and find a way to build some limited trust.
Obama needs to devote his full energies to getting TPP across the finish line.