Whistleblower website WikiLeaks offered a $100,000 bounty for copies of a Pacific trade pact that is a central plank of President Barack Obama's diplomatic pivot to Asia on Tuesday.
WikiLeaks, which has published leaked chapters of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiating text before, started a drive to crowdsource money for the reward, just as U.S. unions launched a new push to make the text public.
"The transparency clock has run out on the TPP. No more secrecy. No more excuses. Let's open the TPP once and for all," WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said in a statement.
The text of the TPP, which is still under negotiation and would boost the flow of goods between 12 nations from Japan to Chile, is a classified document. The U.S. Trade Representative has increased availability of the text to lawmakers, but critics complain there is still not enough oversight.
Under legislation awaiting approval from the House of Representatives, the text of the TPP will be publicly available for 60 days before it is signed by the president.
Negotiations on the TPP are close to completion but many trading partners are waiting for approval of fast track, which would stop lawmakers from amending trade deals like the TPP, before making their final offers.
Only 18 Democrats have signaled support and dozens of Republicans, opposed to giving the White House more power, are expected to vote "no," leaving the 217-vote threshold needed for passage in doubt.
U.S. wine faces tariffs of up to 55 percent in TPP countries, fresh vegetables as much as 90 percent and textiles up to 100 percent.
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