U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) spearheaded a group of his Senate colleagues in urging President Donald Trump to revisit consideration of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in talks this week with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that are expected to encompass trade expansion.
“Reducing barriers to trade and investment, protecting American intellectual property rights, and leveling the playing field for U.S. businesses, manufacturers, farmers, fishermen, and ranchers is of utmost importance,” Sen. Daines and his colleagues wrote in a Feb. 16 letter to the president.
“We ask that you prioritize engagement with the TPP so that the American people can prosper from the tremendous opportunities that these trading partners bring,” according to the letter signed by 24 lawmakers, who in addition to Daines included U.S. Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Pat Roberts (R-KS), chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Mike Rounds (R-SD), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Todd Young (R-IN), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Richard Burr (R-NC).
The senators asked the president to “aggressively” work on reforms that would enable the United States to be a TPP party. An improved TPP, they wrote, would effectively enhance the impact of both recent administration regulatory reforms and tax cuts implemented the newly enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
“With 95 percent of the world’s consumers living outside of America’s borders, expanding trade opportunities is critical to Montana’s economy,” Sen. Daines said in a statement. “When given the opportunity to compete on a level playing field, Montana farmers, ranchers and businesses will win and create good-paying jobs here at home.”
In that vein, the senators wrote in the letter that boosting U.S. engagement with the 11 countries in the TPP could “substantially improve the competitiveness of U.S. businesses, support millions of U.S. jobs, increase U.S. exports, increase wages, fully unleash America’s energy potential, and benefit consumers.”
Noting that taking up TPP calls for Senate approval of administration nominees for posts with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. Commerce Department, and other relevant agencies, the senators wrote that they “are committed to securing their expeditious consideration on the Senate floor.”
The TPP could bolster ties with regional allies, act as a counterweight to the People’s Republic of China’s influence, and “provide another platform to modernize trade with Canada and Mexico,” according to the letter.
The letter to Trump is among Sen. Daines’ ongoing support of American international trade efforts. Most recently, for example, Daines on Jan. 30 sent another letter to the president urging for a modernized North America Free Trade Agreement and in November 2017 advocated on behalf of United States agriculture and the vital role it plays in the nation’s economy and its dependence on trade in a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, according to Daines’ office.