Louise Slaughter : Slaughter Statement on the President’s Executive Order on the Trans-Pacific Partnership

WASHINGTON, DC -Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (NY-25) issued the following statement in reaction to President Trump signing an executive order today formalizing that the United States will not continue to pursue membership in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP):

'I'm not against trade, but I've always demanded that it be fair trade. We've never had that in any of our trade agreements, which is why I've voted against every single one of them. The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a 12-country mega-deal negotiated in secret that would have been more of the same. I'm glad to see the TPP has been stopped once and for all. I hope the President now supports my Trade Deficit Reduction Act to change how we approach international trade. Our trade deficit has grown out of control to more than $500 billion. It is time we recognize that every dollar of the trade deficit represents lost potential for American workers.'

Trade deficits represent missed opportunities for American workers. The United States, once the manufacturer for the world, has run annual trade deficits since the 1970s. Those deficits grew precipitously in the 1990s following the enactment of NAFTA and China's accession to the World Trade Organization. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the annual trade deficit for goods and services in 1993 was $70 billion. In 2015, it was $500 billion.

Slaughter's Trade Deficit Reduction Act would put a government-wide focus on addressing the most significant trade deficits that exist between the United States and other countries. The bill would require the administration to identify the countries with which the U.S. has the worst trade deficits. The bill also directs the administration to develop plans of action to address the trade deficits with those countries, with strict deadlines and oversight from Congress.

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