Observer: John Kerry Slams Donald Trump For Scrapping Trans Pacific Partnership

On February 1, 2013, John Forbes Kerry was sworn in as the 68th Secretary of State of the United States, becoming the first sitting Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman to become Secretary in over a century. Secretary Kerry joined the State Department after 28 years in the United States Senate, the last four as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“Something that I in the administration, and the president, worked extremely hard on through the years was the TPP, the Trans Pacific Partnership,” said Kerry, who accepted an award in Manhattan today from the nonprofit The Common Good. “You can say ‘I don’t like Clause C, or E,’ or whatever. You go and negotiate. It was just thrown out, completely thrown out. In doing so, we walked back eight to ten years of our work American efforts and credibility in the region.”

Kerry predicted “a long-term downward payout” from the current administration’s decision, which will limit the U.S.’s ability to promote its interests abroad in the future. The TPP was designed to counter the growing influence of China, but critics on both ends of the spectrum warned about the loss of American sovereignty, and exposing U.S. workers to competition with those in poorer nations with weaker workplace regulations.

- Observer reporter Will Bredderman, READ MORE