Republican senators urge Trump to rejoin Trans-Pacific Partnership

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This was published 6 years ago

Republican senators urge Trump to rejoin Trans-Pacific Partnership

By David Crowe
Updated

A group of 25 Republican senators have urged Donald Trump to rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership, putting pressure on the US President to revisit the matter ahead of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's trip to Washington for trade talks.

The Republican senators seized on Mr Trump's comment last month that he could rejoin the TPP "if we did a substantially better deal", and come at the same time as a powerful group of US state governors are clearing the way for Mr Turnbull to strike new trade and investment deals.

The senators, who comprise almost half of the 51 Republicans in the Senate and include senior figures such as John Cornyn, Orrin Hatch and John McCain, urged Mr Trump to "aggressively" pursue a return to the TPP, which they say would support the US economy and also "strengthen ties with our allies in the region [and] counter the influence of the People's Republic of China".

Malcolm Turnbull will meet Donald Trump on Friday.

Malcolm Turnbull will meet Donald Trump on Friday.

Mr Trump quit the TPP last year as one of his first acts upon becoming US President, but 11 other Pacific nations, including Australia, Japan and New Zealand, reached a new agreement.

Governors including Nevada’s Brian Sandoval, a Republican who chairs the National Governors Association, have also called for the US to join the TPP, making them key allies for Mr Turnbull and other leaders around the Asia-Pacific.

The National Governors Association appears set to counter protectionist moves by Mr Trump and take a pro-trade stance on the international economy at their annual summit in the US capital this week.

After inviting Mr Turnbull to address the elite gathering, the Governors Association is setting up talks between the Prime Minister and major US chief executives.

The association's executive director,  Scott Pattison, said the big US investors could “open their eyes” to opportunities in Australia.

“We have a lot of corporate partners, a lot of them are going to be there and I have a feeling a lot of them probably already have Australian investment,” Mr Pattison said.

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“They’re always on the lookout for what else they can do. And, frankly, the benefit to Australia from the Prime Minister coming, along with the premiers from so many states, is to open their eyes to some possibilities they may not have been focused on.”

The US chief executives scheduled to  join the event include Roy Harvey of Alcoa, Brendan Bechtel of global engineering firm Bechtel, Ryan Lance of energy giant ConocoPhillips, Marillyn Hewson of defence company Lockheed Martin, Wes Bush of Northrop Grumman and Glenn Kellow of coal giant Peabody Energy.

Big Australian groups such IFM Investors, a $100 billion infrastructure fund led by chief executive Brett Himbury, will also be at the meetings to consider more investment in the US.

The Governors Association's plans include roundtable talks in which the executives will meet Mr Turnbull and Australian state premiers including Daniel Andrews, Gladys Berejiklian and Annastacia Palaszczuk.

The meetings come as the Turnbull government sets out ambitious plans to increase defence exports and energy investments, but the alliances can also come at a cost to taxpayers, with the Victorian and federal governments offering $230 million to Alcoa last year to keep its Portland aluminium smelter operating.

Trade is a vital part of Mr Turnbull’s agenda but he must contend with an increasingly protectionist US President, as the Commerce Department prepares to slap new tariffs on steel and aluminium despite resistance from key figures within the administration.

A former US government official told news site Axios last week that the tariffs would be the “opening shot in a trade war” if they went ahead.

While Mr Turnbull and Mr Trump are at odds over the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, the powerful Governors Association is speaking up for policies that increase trade and investment.

Asked if the governors would generally support Mr Turnbull’s pro-trade message, Mr Pattison said: “I would say yes, but they vary as to how they publicly feel.”

Mr Pattison said some governors were backing a pro-trade agenda even if they avoided public comments that countered the President.

“Some of them feel, ‘Hey, I’m not going to be effective if I’m just going to do rhetoric, but behind the scenes I can explain to federal officials the benefits of trade,’ ” he said.

“I would say that the governors are very pro-trade ...''

The Governors Association has become a crucial forum after years of increasingly partisan disagreement in Washington, with state leaders setting out their own economic agendas from the federal government.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty in Washington, DC, and there has been, in a lot of ways, for several years,” Mr Pattison said.

“Internationally, elected and appointed officials in other countries are realising that in addition to the US federal government there are very prominent chief executives across the country as well as the governors.

“On the economic development side, they want to make sure the dialogue continues and they really want to make sure the economic co-operation continues.”

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