Trade: ‘Its Strategic Value Is Awesome’

Twelve Trans-Pacific Partnership Nations ‘Not Only An Enormously Lucrative Trading Bloc But A Vital Geostrategic Counterweight To China’

SEC DEF ASH CARTER: ‘We Need Congress To Pass Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority,’ ‘Time’s Running Out’

ASH CARTER, Secretary of Defense: ‘We need Congress to pass bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority … [to] ensure America gets the best deal in a historic, new trade agreement with eleven other Asia-Pacific countries, which is called the Trans-Pacific Partnership … as important to me as another aircraft carrier’ “…we need Congress to pass bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority for the President – so that he can ensure America gets the best deal in a historic, new trade agreement with eleven other Asia-Pacific countries, which is called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. As Secretary of Defense, I never forget that our military strength ultimately rests on the foundation of our vibrant, unmatched, and growing economy.  TPP is so important because of its enormous promise for jobs and growth across our nation’s economy. … But TPP also makes strong strategic sense, and it is probably one of the most important parts of the rebalance, and that’s why it has won such bipartisan support.  In fact, you may not expect to hear this from a Secretary of Defense, but in terms of our rebalance in the broadest sense, passing TPP is as important to me as another aircraft carrier.  It would deepen our alliances and partnerships abroad and underscore our lasting commitment to the Asia-Pacific.  And it would help us promote a global order that reflects both our interests and our values.” (Sec. Carter, Remarks At The McCain Institute, 4/6/15)

• CARTER: ‘Time’s running out … [to] cement our influence and leadership in the fastest-growing region in the world’ “Time’s running out: we already see countries in the region trying to carve up these markets…forging many separate trade agreements in recent years, some based on pressure and special arrangements rather than openness and principle.  Agreements that don’t incorporate our high standards and leave us on the sidelines.  That risks America’s access to these growing markets, and it risks regional instability. We must all decide if we are going to let that happen.  If we’re going to help boost our exports and our economy, support higher-paying jobs across America, and cement our influence and leadership in the fastest-growing region in the world; or if, instead, we’re going to take ourselves out of the game.” (Sec. Carter, Remarks At The McCain Institute, 4/6/15)

SHINZO ABE, Japanese Prime Minister: “…prosperity is nothing less than the seedbed for peace. Involving countries in Asia Pacific whose backgrounds vary, the U.S. and Japan must take the lead. We must take the lead to build a market that is fair, dynamic, sustainable, and is also free from the arbitrary intentions of any nation. …we can spread our shared values around the world and have them take root: the rule of law, democracy, and freedom. That is exactly what the TPP is all about.” (Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Remarks To Joint Session Of Congress, 4/29/15)

• ABE: “…the TPP goes far beyond just economic benefits. It is also about our security. Long term, its strategic value is awesome. We should never forget that. The TPP covers an area that accounts for 40 percent of the world economy and one-third of global trade. We must turn the area into a region for lasting peace and prosperity. That is for the sake of our children and our children's children. … We must make the vast seas stretching from the Pacific to the Indian Oceans seas of peace and freedom, where all follow the rule of law. For that very reason, we must fortify the U.S.-Japan alliance. That is our responsibility.” (Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Remarks To Joint Session Of Congress, 4/29/15)

GEN. JIM JONES, Former National Security Advisor: ‘By leading on trade, the United States tightens our bonds with allies around the globe, strengthens our influence in would-be hotspots, and fosters greater global stability’ “Promoting robust international trade contributes to national prosperity--a simple, empirically based fact of modern economic life. A strong economy won't solve all our problems, foreign or domestic, but without it we can solve very few of them. Among the enduring lessons of the past century is that a prosperous America is far better able to protect the country's values and advance its interests in a dangerous world. … By leading on trade, the United States tightens our bonds with allies around the globe, strengthens our influence in would-be hotspots, and fosters greater global stability through expanding economic cooperation.” (Gen. Jim Jones, Op-Ed, “The Strategic Imperative Of Trade,” Connecticut Post, 4/17/15)

• JONES: ‘approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)… essential… a vital geostrategic counterweight to China’ “In Asia, approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will help stabilize a region in flux. An ambitious and comprehensive trade accord among the United States and 11 other countries that touch the Pacific Ocean, the TPP is essential for expanding our market access and influence in this strategically critical area. These 12 nations account for nearly 40 percent of the world's GDP and about a third of all trade, creating not only an enormously lucrative trading bloc but a vital geostrategic counterweight to China.” (Gen. Jim Jones, Op-Ed, “The Strategic Imperative Of Trade,” Connecticut Post, 4/17/15)

NEWSPAPERS: ‘It’s About Anchoring Asian Countries … To A Free-Market Economy Upholding Western Standards And Values,’ ‘Rather Than China’s Mercantilist Goals’
WASHINGTON POST: “An agreement that would organize trade in the Pacific Rim according to U.S. free-trade principles rather than China’s mercantilist goals is therefore a vital interest for them — and for the United States.” (Editorial, “The Trans-Pacific Partnership Can Help The U.S. Counter China’s Expansion,” Washington Post, 1/22/15)

• “The net effect would be a better balance of power, money and ideas between the United States and its allies on the one hand and China on the other.” (Editorial, “U.S. And Japan Must Seal The Deal On The Trans-Pacific Partnership,” Washington Post, 4/21/14)

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: “We have the opportunity to cement relationships with crucial trading partners and to offer a bulwark against China in a fast-growing region.” (Editorial, “Congress Must Pass The Trans-Pacific Partnership,” San Francisco Chronicle, 4/7/15)

CHICAGO TRIBUNE: “This opportunity to expand free trade — and move China in a positive strategic direction — should be irresistible.” (Editorial, “As China Visits Chicago, Good Signs For Free Trade,” Chicago Tribune, 12/17/14)

THE NEWS TRIBUNE: “The 800-pound gorilla missing from the [Trans-Pacific Partnership] list is China. That’s by design. One of the purposes of the Trans-Pacific Partnership is to tighten Western ties with countries – like Singapore and Japan – that fear domination by the increasingly aggressive Chinese. Another purpose is to preempt a Chinese attempt to build its own Pacific trade zone on its own terms. A Chinese version of the Partnership, for example, wouldn’t likely contain the copyright and patent guarantees the Obama administration has secured to protect U.S. inventors, tech firms, researchers, filmmakers, artists and entertainment companies.” (“Give Obama Authority To Deliver Trans-Pacific Partnership,” The News Tribune, 3/24/15)

DALLAS MORNING NEWS: “The Trans-Pacific Partnership is not just about exports and imports; it’s also about enhancing America’s role among Pacific nations and standing strong against an assertive China ... Nationally, the pact will enable the U.S. to help set the rules in the fast-growing markets of Asia, rather than leaving them to China. Let’s do it.” (Editorial, “Why The Trans-Pacific Partnership Would Be Good For Texas,” Dallas Morning News, 4/22/15)

USA TODAY: “A major agreement is going to happen, one way or another. China is pushing an alternative plan, one that does not include any countries in the Americas, and that Asian countries would turn to if the trans-Pacific deal falls through. That approach would freeze U.S. exporters out of the fastest growing region in the world. It would also enhance China's economic power and its influence over its neighbors. The pan-Pacific deal, on the other hand, would help the U.S. retain a key role in the region, while promoting competition that would give consumers more choices and lower costs.” (Editorial, “Trade Deal Vs. Fact-Free Uproar: Our View,” USA Today, 5/3/15)

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: “TPP is important because it puts the US in the game to set the rules.” (“Trans-Pacific Partnership: Obama Pushes US Lead Role In Asia,” Christian Science Monitor, 4/18/15)

• ‘It’s about anchoring Asian countries … to a free-market economy upholding Western standards and values’ “It’s about anchoring Asian countries that are increasingly tied to China’s economy – and overshadowed by China’s assertive behavior in its neighborhood – to a free-market economy upholding Western standards and values.” (“Trans-Pacific Partnership: Obama Pushes US Lead Role In Asia,” Christian Science Monitor, 4/18/15)

SEATTLE TIMES: “The United States must remain a top influencer in global trade and TPP is one way to do that. The proposal is shaping up to align larger economies like those of the United States and Japan with smaller economies in a position to better compete with China.” (Editorial, “Give Obama Fast-Track Authority In Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations,” Seattle Times, 4/20/15)

NATIONAL REVIEW: “The TPP countries represent a third of our top 15 export markets; Singapore consumes nearly as much in American goods as does France, which has 12 times the population. Together they constitute a strong economic counterpoint to the major Pacific power missing from the list of TPP countries: China. If the United States does not exercise economic leadership in the Pacific, Beijing surely will.” (Editorial, “The Trans-Pacific Partnership Deserves a Hearing,” National Review, 4/20/15)

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