WASHINGTON: US Demo­cratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday she does not support the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), rejecting a central tenet of President Barack Obama’s strategic pivot to Asia.

Clinton, who backed the developing trade pact when she was secretary of state during Obama’s first term, said she was worried it would not do enough to crack down on currency manipulation or protect consumers from excessively high drug prices.

“The bar here is very high and, based on what I have seen, I don’t believe the agreement has met it,” Clinton said in a statement issued during a campaign swing through Iowa. “I don’t believe we can afford to keep giving new agreements the benefit of the doubt. The risks are too high that, despite our best efforts, they will end up doing more harm than good.”

The TPP deal, reached on Monday after marathon talks between the US and 11 Pacific Rim nations, aims to liberalise commerce in 40pc of the world’s economy and would be a legacy-defining victory for Obama.

Clinton’s opposition, however, could help her shore up support from labour groups and liberal Democrats who oppose the pact fearing it job losses and weaken ing environmental laws.

It is the latest in a series of moves by Clinton to distance herself from key administration policies as she tries to hold off a challenge from the left by Bernie Sanders, a US senator from Vermont, and prepare for a possible presidential run by Vice President Joe Biden.

Clinton’s once-commanding lead in polls of Democratic voters has diminished amid a lingering controversy about her use of a private e-mail server when she was secretary of state, giving rise to speculation that Biden could enter the race.

Her announcement on the TPP comes just a week ahead of the first televised debate of the Democratic presidential contenders. Obama and Biden have pushed for the trade deal, arguing it would help the United States increase influence in East Asia and counter the rise of China.

“The president has been extraordinarily effective in making as strong a case as could be made, but I do worry we have an equation here, how do we raise incomes in America?” Clinton said in an interview with PBS’s “Newshour,” where she first announced her opposition to the trade pact.

Clinton has distanced herself from the Obama administration on other policies recently, announcing opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline, backing a no-fly zone over Syria and offering plans to expand and change Obamacare, the president’s signature healthcare reform.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2015

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