White House accepts defeat as Congress abandons TPP deal

London [UK], Nov. 13 (ANI): The Barack Obama administration conceded defeat regarding the President's hard fought Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal as it was not passed by the Congress. Earlier this week, Congress leaders from both parties said they would not bring the trade deal forward during a lame-duck session before the formal transition of power on January 20 to President-elect Donald Trump, reports the Guardian. Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer and to be minority leader in the next Congress told union leaders that the trade deal would not pass. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell also said "no" when asked if Congress would consider the TPP. The deal has supporters in both parties but it became a campaign symbol for lost manufacturing jobs as Trump called it "a continuing rape of our country" and argued that as a symbol of globalized manufacturing in general, it had sent jobs from the US to other countries and damaged the American economy. The TPP would have included the US and 11 countries in Asia, South America and the south Pacific, and was designed in large part to curb the growing economic influence of China. The deal would have phased out tariffs which the other countries place on US imports, making products easier to sell abroad. It also would have set up open internet and copyright protections across the 12 nations, benefitting the entertainment industry and undercutting online piracy in China. The deal also included provisions against wildlife trafficking and child labor, holding countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia to higher standards. Opponents of the deal, including many unions, argued it did not protect against countries that manipulate their currency and foreign companies suing, in special tribunals, for exemptions to various US rules. (ANI)