News

Call for US to re-enter TPP (CPTPP) to combat China’s unfair trade practices

Many members of the House Ways and Means trade subcommittee say the U.S. should re-enter the new version of the Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to combat China’s unfair trade practices.

Wisconsin Congressman Ron Kind testified at a hearing about it today, saying, “The irony is, much of USMCA, which we received wide bipartisan support in modernizing NAFBT and bringing that into the 21^st century – a lot of that was cut-and-paste from TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership). So it wouldn’t be a stretch for us now to apply those same values and principles to our admission into TPP.”

Attorney Clete Willems, partner at Akin Gump, says it’s critical for the U.S. to join CPTPP – and time is of the essence.

“Kurt Campbell, one of the deputy national security advisers just said the other day, that China’s attempts to join CPTPP are deadly serious and other countries are looking at this in a real way.”

In the short term, Willems says Congress should pass the bipartisan U.S. Competition and Competition Act (USICA), passed by the Senate in June. The bill puts billions of taxpayer funds into U.S. technology to counter China’s growing economic and political influence.