Ryan Hails Trump on TPP Withdrawal

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan praised President Donald Trump’s announcement today that he would formally withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and called on the president to create a “new trade model” that takes workers and the environment into account.

Former President Barack Obama, negotiated for more than two years to formulate the massive free trade deal, which was never ratified by Congress.

Ryan, D-13 Ohio, said he and his Democratic colleagues fought for years against the “ill-conceived” pact, which he maintains would hurt American workers. He was proud that the message of “bring jobs back to our country and the need for more voices at the table representing labor resonated with the American people,” he added.

“This deal failed because it lacked the necessary support among Republicans and Democrats in Congress and hardworking men and women. This action confirms what I have been saying my whole career: We need to be prioritizing American manufacturing, industries and workers,” he said.

Ryan also called on Trump, as he considers renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, to remember the workers in his district who have seen third jobs shipped overseas. When he first ran for Congress in 2002 he ran against the trade deal.

“This is an opportunity to create a new trade model that creates standards that protect jobs, our environment, human rights and American workers,” Ryan said.

“Done incorrectly, President Trump’s actions will just as easily make matters worse, doing irreversible and lasting damage,” he warned. “If we allow corporate elites and special interests to dominate the process we will see increased offshoring of jobs, wages continue to be squeezed and our nation’s inequality gap widen.”

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