U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks about Pacific trade policy during a speech before the Pacific Council on International Policy at the Omni Hotel in Los Angeles, Calif., April 12, 2016.
LOS ANGELES —
Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday touted the benefits of two major U.S. trade pacts that have faced skepticism from some members of Congress, trade groups and presidential candidates.
In a speech to a Los Angeles international policy group, Kerry said the trade agreements have broad benefits that include defending U.S. strategic interests and strengthening national security.
In February, foreign officials signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive trade deal involving the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim countries — a group whose total gross domestic product constitutes about 40 percent of global GDP. The deal, which includes rules for the international trade of drugs, cars and dairy products, still needs U.S. congressional approval.
The pact has an uncertain future in the U.S., partly because of U.S. lawmakers' concerns that the deal would hurt trade and investment.
FILE - A protester shouts slogans during a rally against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Tokyo, April 22, 2014.
In a March letter to President Barack Obama, a bipartisan group of New York lawmakers said they were “skeptical” that the TPP would “fare better than previous trade agreements.” They cited provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and said those had resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs in their state.
“This is not your parents’ or your grandparents’ trade agreement,” said Kerry, who added that there was a lot of “misinformation floating around about TPP.”
He cited critics who have said the plan would cost U.S. jobs. “The primary reason old jobs disappear is not trade but technology, and certainly not trade agreements,” he said.
European Union chief negotiator Ignacio Garcia Bercero, left, and U.S. chief negotiator Dan Mullaney speak to reporters after the 12th round of E.U.-U.S. trade negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) in Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 26, 2016.
Kerry also cited the benefits of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP), an investment agreement being negotiated between the U.S. and the European Union. He said that pact would implement “common-sense reforms to remove tariffs, eliminate red tape for goods crossing our borders and promote services.”
Kerry’s California appearance wraps up a weeklong tour that included stops in Bahrain, Iraq and Afghanistan. He traveled to California from Japan, where he took part in a meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations and visited a World War II memorial site in Hiroshima.
PHOTO GALLERY: Secretary of State Kerry's weeklong tour
US Secretary of State Kerry on Middle East, Asian Tour
1/17U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, center left, puts his arm around Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, center right, after they and fellow G-7 foreign ministers laid wreaths at the cenotaph at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan, April 11, 2016.
2/17U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, points out to Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida a passage about friendship in a replica of a letter on a small diplomatic matter from former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln to the Tycoon of Japan in 1861, before their bilateral meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, April 11, 2016.
3/17U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy and her son, Jack Schlossberg, greet Secretary of State John Kerry as he arrives, ahead of G-7 foreign minister meetings, at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, April 10, 2016.
4/17U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry begins the first working session of the G-7 Ministerial meeting with colleagues from Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Britain at the Grand Prince Hotel in Hiroshima, Japan, April 10, 2016.
5/17From left, E.U. High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini, and foreign ministers from Canada, Stephane Dion; Britain, Philip Hammond; Japan, Fumio Kishida, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry; Italy, Paolo Gentiloni, and France Jean-Marc Ayrault at the Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima Island, Japan, April 10, 2016.
6/17Secretary of State John Kerry boards his military transport to depart Baghdad International Airport in Baghdad, April 8, 2016.
7/17U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) meets Iraq's Kurdish Regional Prime Minister Nechervan Barzani (3rd L) and his delegationat the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, April 8, 2016.
8/17U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, second from left, sits with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi inside the prime minister's Palace in Baghdad, Iraq, April 8, 2016.
9/17រថយន្តសង្គ្រោះបន្ទាន់ចាកចេញពីរូងភ្នំ Tham Luang បន្ទាប់អ្នកជ្រមុជទឹកបានរំដោះក្មេងខ្លះ ដែលជាប់នៅក្នុងរូងភ្នំនេះក្នុងឧទ្យាន Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park នៅក្នុងស្រុក Mae Sai ខេត្ត Chiang Rai។
10/17U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry shakes hands with Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani during a news conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 9, 2016.
11/17U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry addresses family members and staff at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 9, 2016.
12/17FILE - US Secretary of State John Kerry rides in a helicopter en route to the US Embassy in Kabul upon arriving in Afghanistan in August, 2014.
13/17U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Afghan officials, including Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani (C) at the start of their bilateral commission talks at Char Chinar Palace in Kabul, April 9, 2016. (Pamela Dockins/VOA).
14/17U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, shares a laugh with Afghanistan CEO Abdullah Abdullah before meeting at the Sepidar Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 9, 2016.
15/17From left, Oman Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi, Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, Secretary of State John Kerry and Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, stand together for a family photo at the start of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Ministerial meetings in Manama, Bahrain, April 7, 2016.
16/17Secretary of State Kerry greets U.S. troops outside Resolute Support Headquarters following a meeting with General "Mick" Nicholson, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan , April 9, 2016. (Pamela Dockins/VOA)
17/17Secretary of State John Kerry meets with officers from the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet as he tours the Naval Support Activity Bahrain base in the Gulf, in Manama, Bahrain, Thursday, April 7, 2016.
