Dems are fighting to see the Fine Print. Dems are fighting to add some Fine Print of their own -- specifically concerning the banning of "child labor" and the banning of "forced labor." And then ensuring the means of enforcing those bans, to boot. What nerve!
Trans-Pacific Partnership advocates think those demands are 'a bridge too far'. Do that, and workers will be demanding "rights" and stuff -- if you're crazy enough to put some real worker protections into the TPP Agreement.
Sen. Sherrod Brown: Common sense, not obstruction
by Sherrod Brown, USAtoday.com -- May 13, 2015
[...]
Demanding trade enforcement legislation at the same time that we consider fast-track authority for the largest trade deal ever isn't obstructionism —it's common sense.[...]
USA TODAY's Editorial Board may argue that export opportunities through TPP could create American jobs. But the same promises were made during the South Korea free-trade agreement, and we've seen $12 billion in new imports to the U.S. from Korea for only $1 billion worth of new exports for American companies.
By demanding increased trade enforcement in conjunction with fast track for TPP, we can crack down on countries that manipulate their currency to give their exports a price advantage over American-made products. We can give the steel industry and others new tools to fight back when foreign imports undercut their business. And we can put an end to the import of certain products made with forced or child labor.
We can't have trade promotion without trade enforcement.
-- Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, is a member of the Senate Finance Committee.
Learn more about the systematic "forced labor" problem, here.
It's an issue very much on Bernie Sanders radar screen too.