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                Obama: China 'Put Out Feelers' About Joining TPP

   by VOA News

   President Barack Obama says China has started to "put out feelers"
   about possibly joining the new Trans-Pacific trade agreement.

   Obama told public radio's Marketplace Wednesday, "If we have 11 of the
   leading economies in the Asia-Pacific region who have agreed to
   enforceable labor standards, enforceable environmental standards,
   strong I.P. [ internet protocol ] protections... then China is going to
   have to at least take those international norms into account."

   The president said Chinese officials have reached out to the White
   House and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on the possibility of
   "participating at some point."

   The Trans-Pacific trade deal, which is still being negotiated, would
   bring together at least 12 Asia-Pacific nations, including the United
   States.

   President Obama has made Congressional passage of a final deal a major
   goal. He is also pushing Congress to give him fast-track authority --
   allowing him to negotiate conditions in trade agreements without the
   need for Congressional approval.

   Many Democrats oppose fast-track, saying the North American Free Trade
   Agreement that took effect 20 years ago, sent many American jobs to
   Mexico and had no environmental standards or protection for workers.

   Obama told Marketplace that opponents to a Pacific trade deal have to
   stop  fighting "the last war." He said the U.S. is creating new rules
   that raise standards in an important part of the world.

   He said if the U.S. is not shaping the rules in Asia, China will.

   "We can't just draw a moat and pull up the drawbridge around our
   economy. We are completely woven into the global economy. We are the
   hub to many, to a large extent, of the global economy," said Obama.

   The president spent much of Wednesday giving interviews to television
   stations in cities whose Democratic representatives in Congress have
   not yet decided whether to support the Pacific trade deal.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-china-put-out-feelers-about-joi
   ning-tpp/2806949.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-china-put-out-feelers-about-joining-tpp/2806949.html