File photo of Hillary Clinton.
Washington:
Hillary Clinton, who regularly promoted White House efforts to complete a huge trade accord with Pacific Rim countries while she was US secretary of state, came out Wednesday against the deal.
The announcement marks yet another Clinton break from President Barack Obama as she gears up for an intense 2016 campaign battle for the White House.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership signed Monday between 12 nations would be the largest regional trade pact ever, encompassing 40 percent of the global economy and marking one of Obama's key diplomatic and economic achievements.
But Clinton, frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, said that given what she knows about the deal it falls short of her "high bar" for creating American jobs, raising wages and advancing US national security.
"As of today, I am not in favor of what I have learned about it," she told public broadcaster PBS in an interview.
"I don't believe it's going to meet the high bar that I have set."
The hard-won trade deal aims to set the rules for 21st century trade and investment and press China, not among the 12 partners, to shape its behavior in commerce, investment and business regulation to TPP standards.
Clinton said she was "worried" in particular about currency manipulation provisions not being included in the text of the accord.
"We've lost American jobs to the manipulations that countries, particularly in Asia, have engaged in," Clinton said.
Last week she called for the creation of a no-fly zone in Syria, something the White House has resisted, and in August she expressed opposition to Obama's decision to allow drilling in the Arctic Ocean.
Last month she announced she was against construction of the Keystone XL pipeline that would send Canadian crude to US refineries, a project that remains under consideration by the White House.
US lawmakers have cautiously welcomed the free-trade accord, but it faces intense scrutiny in Congress, which will vote on its ratification in 2016.
The announcement marks yet another Clinton break from President Barack Obama as she gears up for an intense 2016 campaign battle for the White House.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership signed Monday between 12 nations would be the largest regional trade pact ever, encompassing 40 percent of the global economy and marking one of Obama's key diplomatic and economic achievements.
But Clinton, frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, said that given what she knows about the deal it falls short of her "high bar" for creating American jobs, raising wages and advancing US national security.
"As of today, I am not in favor of what I have learned about it," she told public broadcaster PBS in an interview.
"I don't believe it's going to meet the high bar that I have set."
The hard-won trade deal aims to set the rules for 21st century trade and investment and press China, not among the 12 partners, to shape its behavior in commerce, investment and business regulation to TPP standards.
Clinton said she was "worried" in particular about currency manipulation provisions not being included in the text of the accord.
"We've lost American jobs to the manipulations that countries, particularly in Asia, have engaged in," Clinton said.
Last week she called for the creation of a no-fly zone in Syria, something the White House has resisted, and in August she expressed opposition to Obama's decision to allow drilling in the Arctic Ocean.
Last month she announced she was against construction of the Keystone XL pipeline that would send Canadian crude to US refineries, a project that remains under consideration by the White House.
US lawmakers have cautiously welcomed the free-trade accord, but it faces intense scrutiny in Congress, which will vote on its ratification in 2016.
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