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Vilsack remains hopeful on TPP

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack remains hopeful on passage of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement.

The ag secretary was in Savannah, Missouri Wednesday to announce a new round of USDA financing for rural electric projects. During a news conference, Brownfield asked Vilsack if he feels caught in the middle between a President who is pushing for passage of TPP and Hillary Clinton—the candidate he supports—who opposes TPP.

“I don’t feel caught in the middle. I think President Obama is right about this,” Vilsack said, “and I hope, following the election, that there are sufficient numbers of members of the Congress who have the political will to allow this thing to be put up for a vote.  Because I think if it’s put up for a vote, it will pass.”

A big reason to pass TPP, Vilsack says, is to help balance China’s influence in Asia.

“I, for one, am not comfortable with the notion of an all-Asia trade agreement, which China is now trying to negotiate—where China writes the rules, where China sets the standards for labor, for environment, for fair trade with each other—which will exclude the U.S.”

AUDIO: Tom Vilsack