Excerpts from an opinion piece by Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa:
The Teamsters, other unions and fair trade advocates have for years criticized a proposed Pacific Rim trade deal for its lack of transparency. Now trade officials with the 12 nations negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are paying the price for not having an open process as they can’t seem to come to an agreement on the proposal.
Despite efforts to keep the deal out of public view, leaks have occurred that have led to concern and more questions. People here in the U.S. and across the globe increasingly believe they have a right to know how the TPP will affect them.
There is even one significant issue that hasn’t been addressed yet. Currency manipulation, for example, allows nations like China to get an unfair leg up on trade. It causes the U.S. to run trade deficits in the billions of dollars with other countries and leads to American jobs being moved overseas. A majority of House and Senate members earlier this year asked the Obama administration to address the matter as part of the TPP. But it appears U.S. officials didn’t even raise the issue during the Singapore meetings.