Campaign Promises
Other/Miscellaneous -> Independent Organizations -> Trade Representative | ||
| Item | Independent Organizations | |
| Trade Representative | Grade | |
| IO-74 | The Promise: "...will use trade agreements to spread good labor and environmental standards around the world." When/Where: Obama-Biden Plan to Revitalize the Economy, 2008 Source: https://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20090429185145/http://change.gov/agenda/economy_agenda/ Status:At the start of the Obama Administration, the USA had Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with 17 countries (Canada, Mexico, Israel, Jordan, Singapore, Chile, Australia, Morocco, Bahrain, Oman, Peru, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua). By end-CY2016, three countries had been added (South Korea, Colombia and Panama) as FTA partners. Each of these agreements contained labor and environmental standards. In addition to the above, 10 countries entered into Trade and Investment Framework Agreements (TIFA) with the USA during President Obama's two terms in office (Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Iceland, Laos, Libya, Maldives, South Africa). These were supplemented by three regional TIFAs: Carribean Community (CARICOM), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Framework Agreement. Labor and environmental considerations are reflected in each of these agreements. On 02/12/13, President Barack Obama called for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the European Union (EU) and the USA. Opposition to the TTIP within the EU led to years of unsuccessful negotiations by the time President Obama left office in 01/17 due largely to labor and environmental concerns from the EU citizenry, among many. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), also called the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, is a trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. China refused TPP participation largely due to the environmental and labor requirements imposed therein by the USA. President Obama signed the TPP on 02/04/16, but the Senate had not ratified that agreement by the end of his tenure in the Oval Office. This promise was fulfilled. | 1.00 |