Chuck Schumer: “Fourth, on the Executive action that the President will be withdrawing the United States from the TPP, or the…”

“Fourth, on the Executive action that the President will be withdrawing the United States from the TPP, or the Trans-Pacific Partnership, as you know, my views on trade are probably closer to President Trump's than they were to President Obama and President Bush. I opposed NAFTA and TPP. But the fact that the President announced with fanfare that he will be withdrawing the United States from the Trans- Pacific Partnership is not news. The Trans-Pacific Partnership was dead long ago, before President Trump took office. That is why Leader McConnell didn't bring it up on the floor in the lameduck session. It didn't have the votes and was even further away from getting votes in the Senate. It was over. We await real action on trade, one of the President's signature campaign issues. Now, what President Trump said in his campaign over and over was that, on his first day as President, he would label China a currency manipulator. That hasn't happened. Even though China is letting their currency float at the moment, you can be sure they will return to manipulating their currency--hurting our exports, helping them unfairly compete with American jobs and businesses--as soon as it is in their best interest to do so. I worked, frankly, with the nominee for Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, and with many others to try and get both President Bush and President Obama to label China a currency manipulator. It didn't happen, unfortunately.…”