If businessman Donald Trump wins the presidency, Republicans would feel obliged to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, said House Agriculture Committee chairman Michael Conaway. In a Roll Call video, Conaway, who volunteered in May to advise Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, on agricultural policy, says TPP already faces an uphill struggle for passage, so with Trump’s opposition “it would be difficult to get that done.”
“I’m hard-pressed to see how Republicans would sour the relationship with a new president by doing something he’s been so voraciously against throughout the campaign,” said Conaway. At the end of the interview, the Texas Republican added, “I think it’s early to write an obituary for it [TPP] but it’s going to be difficult to get it done.”
Farm groups generally support TPP, which would broaden access to Japan’s food market, the big prize of the 12-nation package which covers 40 percent of the global economy. Because of the party’s longtime free-trade philosophy, Republican support is considered vital for ratification of TPP.
Conaway was among a large majority of House Agriculture Committee members who voted a year ago against a so-called trade adjustment provision for displaced workers. Defeat of that language temporarily stalled House passage of legislation that guarantees a prompt vote on trade agreements with no amendments allowed, a first step for consideration of TPP or any other trade deal.