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by Our Foreign Desk
DEMOCRATIC US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton pledged on Sunday to drive a harder bargain on the Transpacific Partnership (TPP).
Speaking at an Iowa campaign rally, Ms Clinton said that President Barack Obama should seek more concessions on TPP, the Pacific equivalent of reviled EU-US pact the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
In an apparent attempt to court the trade union vote, the former secretary of state said she would negotiate more aggressively over the pact.
“No president would be a tougher negotiator on behalf of American workers, either with our trade partners or Republicans on Capitol Hill, than
I would be,” Ms Clinton said.
But rival Democratic prospective presidential candidate and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders urged Ms Clinton to be clearer on whether she wanted TPP or not.
“Is she for it? Is she against it?” Mr Sanders told Iowan reporters. “Those are your two options.”
Mr Sanders has opposed the deal, which unions say would destroy millions of jobs, undermine workers’ rights and override consumer and environmental protection laws.
On Friday the House of Representatives voted against granting Mr Obama powers to fast-track TPP negotiations.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi broke ranks with Mr Obama to vote against the proposal.
Union federation AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka welcomed the vote, saying it was “a marvellous contrast to the corporate money and disillusionment that normally mark American politics today.”
Mr Trumka added that “this was truly democracy in action” after millions of US citizens wrote to their representatives in opposition to TPP and fast-track negotiations.