Courtesy Gage Skidmore
Locked in a tight election for his second term, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) has come out against the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free trade agreement that “‘writes the rules for global trade’ among the United States and 11 Pacific-Rim countries: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.” Which is surprising given Toomey’s previous support for the trade promotion authority, otherwise known as fast track authority, which gives the President the authorization to negotiate trade deals that Congress cannot amend or alter. The fast track authority requires that Congress approve the trade deal by a simple up or down vote and only a simple majority is necessary. This latest move by Toomey aligns him with Republican Nominee Donald Trump who has lashed out against free trade bills like NAFTA and the TPP. Toomey’s opponent, Katie McGinty former Pennsylvania Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection and Chief of Staff to Governor Tom Wolf, does not state whether or not she supports or opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Recent public opinion surveys show a tight race in this traditional electoral battleground state.
In a press release, Toomey prefaced his statement by vocalizing his support for free trade. Quite simply, he said, “Trade is good.” He even admitted that global trade accounts for 200,000 jobs in Pennsylvania alone. He cited a study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics that projects that existing trade agreements save the average American Household around $10,000 annually. However, he measures his support for trade deals on whether or not a particular agreement allow “consumers to save and producers to grow.” Senator Toomey argues that the TPP as signed by the Pacific Rim nations does not meet these two criteria.
While he called the intention behind the agreement, to allow the U.S. to determine global trade rules instead of China, laudable, the devil is in the details. He primarily opposes the agreement for its detrimental effects to the pharmaceutical and agriculture sector. About 46,000 Pennsylvanians are employed in the life science and pharmaceutical sectors, arguably the largest industry in the Commonwealth.He argues that he TPP will make it too easy for other countries like China to steal patented products that we create in the United States and take the jobs tied to those innovations.
In agriculture, there are about 7,000 dairy farms in Pennsylvania alone. This type of business is heavily dependent upon exports.Unfortuniatly, protectionist Canada limited open markets for dairy products. A key goal in any free trade agreement is to open markets in other countries. Senator Toomey says that the agreement as written falls short of this goal.
“A good trade deal can open up new markets across the globe and help turn around our weak economy,” Toomey says. He stress that we must not stray from the intentions behind this agreement, and we must not abandon free trade. He simply says that we must go back to the negotiating table to open new markets from trade barriers such as tariffs and quotas.
Jimmy Nickerson 