WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama hit back at fellow Democrats who oppose his trade initiatives Tuesday, saying they have their facts wrong.
The president’s blunt words came on the eve of a major Senate committee vote on his trade agenda, which many liberals and labor unions vehemently oppose.
“I would not be doing this trade deal if I did not think it was good for the middle class,” Obama said in an interview with MSNBC. “When you hear folks make a lot of suggestions about how bad this trade deal is, when you dig into the facts, they are wrong.”
Asked particularly about sharp criticisms from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, Obama said: “I love Elizabeth. We’re allies on a whole host of issues. But she’s wrong on this.”
The comments came as major labor unions and business groups clashed over Obama’s bid for “fast track” authority to advance trade deals being negotiated with numerous nations.
AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka told the Senate Finance Committee that the fast-track legislation would rob Congress of a meaningful role in shaping trade deals.
Fast-track authority lets Congress reject or endorse — but not amend — proposed trade deals backed by the president.
“The idea that fast-track lets Congress set the standards and goals for the TPP is an absolute fiction,” Trumka said, referring to the pending 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Obama is likely to send Congress the Pacific-rim proposal if he wins fast-track approval. Trade deals with European nations and others could follow.
Trumka said the Pacific-rim deal “has been under negotiation for more than five years and is essentially complete. Congress cannot set meaningful negotiating objectives in a fast track bill if the administration has already negotiated most of the key provisions.”
But Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue said fast-track authority is crucial to ratifying deals that would help U.S. producers reach big foreign markets.
Without fast-track, Donohue said, “the United States is relegated to the sidelines as other nations negotiate trade agreements without us, putting American workers, farmers, and companies at a competitive disadvantage.”
Most congressional Democrats oppose fast-track, and the Obama administration is scrambling for as much support as possible. The Senate Finance Committee plans to vote on the fast-track bill Wednesday.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y, said the administration must press China to stop manipulating its currency, even though China isn’t a party to the Pacific-rim negotiations. “We need to do more against China,” Schumer said at the committee hearing.
If a nation keeps its currency value artificially low, it boosts exports by making local products more affordable to foreigners. Economists disagree on whether China still engages in the practice.
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia is among the Democrats who support the trade proposals. The Pacific-rim negotiations aren’t perfect, he said, but they would require the participating nations to improve standards for workers’ rights, among other things. “Let’s not miss the opportunity for America to once again reassert its leadership” in trade, Warner said.
The Senate could vote fairly soon on the fast track bill. Leaders of the Republican-controlled House could follow suit if they think they have the votes to pass it.
