Most of the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal have been negotiated in secret, leaving many to wonder what’s in it that the Obama administration is trying to hide.
What we do know based on what little information has been leaked is not good.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) laid out just exactly why the TPP would be a disaster for American workers during a speech on the Senate floor, the Huffington Post reported.
“We are creating a structure of a group of seven very poor nations with very low wages, five affluent nations with higher wages, and think about the difference between running an operation on the mound or Malaysia or Mexico, with a minimum wage of less than $2 an hour, and in Vietnam with a minimum wage of 60 to 70 cents depending on what part of the country you’re in,” Merkley said.
“Think about the difference between that and the minimum wage in the United States. It is a 10-to-1 differential.”
Watch Sen. Merkley’s speech.
