You’d think, by reading the BBC coverage at least, that Hillary Clinton is dead opposed to big, corporate, globalist trade deals like the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
Andrew Walker writes today, as the Germans declare the “free trade deal” all but dead:
Mr Obama has been consistently enthusiastic about the [TTIP] plan. His successor may not be. Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, has been particularly critical of some of the country’s trade agreements.
His Democrat opponent, Hillary Clinton, has also expressed reservations about some US trade agreements – especially the Transpacific Partnership (TPP). As Secretary of State, she supported the TPP negotiations but has said more recently that the result did not meet her standards. Her position probably reflects the growing concerns among American voters.
He makes zero mention of the fact that just a few years ago Mrs. Clinton was lauding TTIP as an “economic NATO” in the face of growing public scrutiny. Of course the BBC chooses to cover her statements on TPP, where Mrs. Clinton had to make sure not to alienate Bernie Sanders voters, rather than reflect her position on the actual issue at hand: TTIP. Her old
Her old boss, Barack Obama, even flew to Europe to try and stop the rot as the deal began to unravel earlier this year.
Not only is the latest development – or lack of it – deeply embarrassing for him, it is deeply embarrassing for the trans-Atlantic political establishment who had promised to dot the Is and cross the Ts by the end of this year. They feared a Republican candidate in the White House, scrutinising the deal closely for things that would harm small American businesses. And this was before Donald Trump won the nomination.
The Guardian noted in July: “The Obama administration has said if it cannot sign an TTIP agreement, it wants the task to be passed to Hilary Clinton.”
And it is also perhaps a sign of how Brexit – Britain’s exit vote from the European Union – has scuppered the globalists. Without Britain in the European Union, an EU-U.S. trade deal becomes far less urgent. The political left – who en masse opposed TTIP but also did not want Brexit – should now be lining up to thank Nigel Farage and all those involved in stopping this huge, corporate stitch-up. Don’t hold your breath.
Of course what the media will get at now is recent comments from Mrs. Clinton where she said she’d block trade deals that were bad for American jobs. In which case she’d have to block TPP, TTIP, as well repealing NAFTA. But her comments were widely interpreted as being a sop to the Bernie Sanders voters she so desperately needs on her side to win this election, rather than a genuine change of heart on the issue.
At best, Mrs. Clinton has repeatedly flip-flopped on the issue, trying to find a balance between her big corporate donors and the lefter-wing Democrat voters she needs.
Even on TPP, rather than TTIP, Mrs. Clinton has described it as the “gold standard in trade agreements”. Only when she stopped pulling her hair back tight, donning black coats and black sunglasses (i.e. wanted to run for President) did she begin to change her tune.
The fact is that she opposed Brexit and failed. She opposes the nationalist movements sweeping Europe, beating her friends out of government, and presenting her with some serious challenges in even getting along with U.S. allies if she becomes President. And she backed TTIP and TPP, which are now themselves crumbling around her.
Before Mrs. Clinton has even begun to think about measuring for curtains in the Oval Office, her entire foreign policy and international economic platforms are in ruins.