Members of the U.S. Congress will take steps to block the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, U.S. presidential candidate and Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders said here Monday.
"When we get back to Congress in September, you are going to see me helping to lead the effort against the Trans-Pacific Partnership," media here quoted Sanders as saying during a town hall meeting in New Hampshire. Sanders, 73, runs as an independent on the Vermont ballot but cooperates closely with Democrats.
The deal would harm U.S. workers, he said, as it has uncertain implications for workers' rights, employment relations and the environment. "We need a trade policy in this country, which protects the needs of working people here, low-income people abroad, and is not simply designed to make huge profits for corporate America," he added.
The TPP talks, a top priority for the Obama administration, involves Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.
Trade representatives failed to reach a TPP deal at the end of July after a four-day ministerial meeting, with major sticking points remaining in the areas of market access and intellectual property.
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