With trade representatives from around the globe convening in Atlanta this week, Mayor Kasim Reed joined a host of other U.S. mayors Thursday to call for conclusion to years-long negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
At stake is a behemoth 12-nation trade deal that the Obama administration touts will boost American exports and create jobs, but opponents have blasted as secretive and a threat to U.S. labor standards and wages.
The so-called TPP deal would set rules affecting how much Americans pay for imports, how easily U.S. companies can sell products overseas, environmental and labor protections — and how it all would be enforced.
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman joined Reed, Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and Columbia, S.C. Mayor Steven Benjamin on a tour of Colgate Mattress Atlanta Corp. in Cabbagetown Thursday.
Froman said Colgate — a family-owned manufacturer of crib mattresses — is “emblematic” of the need for a free trade pact with Asia partners. He noted that 98 percent of U.S. companies that export are small and medium size businesses, as are many in Atlanta.
To hear what the mayor had to say about the deal — and from another metro Atlanta mayor who says TPP is a threat to U.S. workers — visit MYAJC.com.
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