DOT chief asks port officials to help win TPP support

Transportation Secretary Anthony Fox said members of the American Association of Port Authorities should lobby Congress about the benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a Pacific Rim free trade deal negotiated by the Obama administration.    U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx on Wednesday urged port industry officials gathered in Washington, D.C. to help the Obama administration sell the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement to a reluctant Congress.
   The multilateral free trade agreement covers 12 nations representing 40 percent of global GDP, but the perception amongst the electorate that previous trade deals have led to massive outsourcing to Asia and job losses has lawmakers in both parties saying they plan to oppose TPP when it comes up for a ratification vote. When such a vote might take place in this unpredictable presidential election year is still unclear.
   Republican candidate Donald Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is stumping for the Democratic nomination, have made opposition to TPP centerpieces of their campaigns. Sanders’ opponent Hillary Clinton has also stated she is against the deal as it is currently framed.
   Port authorities need to help legislators, especially those on the fence about TPP, understand the importance of trade and how the agreement’s lowering of trade barriers will lift U.S. exports and job creation, Foxx said in a keynote address before the American Association of Port Authorities annual spring conference. Ports should use data about the direct and indirect impact of trade on jobs and economic prosperity, he said.
   Imports and exports through seaports alone generate about $4.6 trillion in economic activity, according to analysis done for AAPA by maritime economist John Martin, president of Martin Associates in Lancaster, Pa.
   Coordinated letter writing campaigns and other communication methods with members of Congress are necessary to get the message across about the importance of trade, Foxx said.
   “I’d hate to see us get this far and not get over the finish line,” he said of the TTP, which took six years to negotiate.