The Pros And Cons Of TPP

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The Trans-Pacific-Partnership (TPP) is a recent trade agreement between twelve pacific nations that failed to get final approval from U.S lawmakers. The trade deal pushed by President Obama was rejected by Senators of both parties who were feeling political pressure from their constituents and interest groups. Two different ways to explain the defeat of the TPP are by examining the Factors Model and the Sectors Model.
The Factors Model hinges on the idea that a country’s economy consists of three main factors: land, capital, and labor. The Factors Model theorizes that owners of relatively-abundant factors should support free trade like the TPP. The United States is relatively abundant in capital and land. This means that owners of land and …show more content…

First, the theory correctly predicts that organized labor will come out in opposition to the trade accord. The AFL-CIO, for example, strongly opposed TPP. Furthermore, organized labor pressured Democratic politicians to oppose the deal. Additionally, Republicans have generally seemed more supportive of trade deals in the past. The New York Times article notes, “Typically, most Democrats, pressed by organized labor, reject trade agreements as threatening, especially to manufacturing jobs; presidents of both parties have relied on Republican votes for trade pacts…” This logic follows the ideas of the Factor Model, because the capital backed Republicans should support free trade and the labor backed Democrats should oppose free …show more content…

Politicians behavior is predicted by the sectors their constituents belong too. Rob Portman and Pat Toomey both oppose TPP, because labor-oriented industries like manufacturing are in their states. Conversely, Republicans from more capital heavy states should be more supportive of the pact. The same is true with Democrats. President Obama, who represents the entire relatively capital and land abundant country, supports TPP. In contrast, Ted Strickland and Russ Feingold who are Democrats running for Senate seats in the labor heavy Midwest oppose the deal. Another important point is that the Sectors Model concurs with many of the accurate findings of the Factors Model. The AFL-CIO opposes the TPP in both theories and Democrats should generally be the more protectionist party, because their members typically come from labor heavy districts that have relatively strong