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Obama on trade deal: ‘Let’s just do it’

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By Nick Gass

Updated:

President Barack Obama went to Nike headquarters on Friday to make the hard sell on the trans-Pacific trade deal, even uttering the words, “Let’s just do it.”

Obama delivered a full-throated defense of the Trans-Pacific Partnership currently under negotiation among a dozen countries, and hit back at claims such a deal would result in a bleeding of jobs overseas.

He acknowledged criticism from fellow Democrats, but said some of his closest friends are “wrong.”

“I’ve run my last election, and the only reason I do something is because I think it’s good for the American workers and the American people and the American economy,” Obama said.

Nike pledged earlier Friday that it would create 10,000 jobs over the next decade if the trade deal passes, a small part of the global company’s more than 1 million contract factory workers, most of which are based in Asian countries.

Critics saw the move as more of a stunt than real evidence the trade pact would be a job creator.

“The American jobs Nike claims it aims to create are a drop in the bucket compared to the massive number of jobs that would be lost nationwide if the TPP is enacted because it gives companies incentives to offshore,” said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, in a statement. “It’s like saying let’s take ONE step forward, and 10,000 steps back.”

Obama, however, said he had Oregon small business owners on his side. “They’re right. This deal would be a good thing. So let’s just do it,” Obama said.

The president has been making an all-out push to build support from the public and Congress to “fast track” approval for trade deals, which is seen as a necessary precursor to secure a multi-national trade pact that Obama argues is necessary for U.S. economic vitality.

Critics argue that the deal would outsource hundreds of thousands of American jobs to countries like Vietnam, where the labor is cheaper.

In the Senate, opposition from Minority Leader Harry Reid, along with his lieutenants in leadership, is a major roadblock for the trade measure because at least six Senate Democrats would be needed to advance the bill.

A number of Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have complained that they are being asked to fast-track a trade agreement without seeing the fine print. Obama blasted such concerns on Friday.

“Every T crossed, every I dotted. Everybody’s going to be able to see exactly what’s in it. There’s nothing fast track about this. This is—this is ‘very deliberate track,’ which will be fully subject to scrutiny,” Obama said, adding that once people read it, they would see it is “the most progressive trade deal in history.”

“This is not a left issue or a right issue or a business or a labor issue. It is about fairness and equity and access and like other issues that we’ve waged … this is also a question of the past versus the future,” Obama declared in his speech at Nike’s Beaverton, Oregon, headquarters.

Obama argued that workers in Vietnam and other countries would benefit from the trade deal, as it would give them better working conditions, including the right to form unions.

“It moves us in the right direction,” Obama said. “And if Vietnam or any of the other countries in this trade agreement don’t meet these requirements, they’ll face meaningful consequences.”

Oregon Democratic lawmakers Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici also joined the president at the event.

“We’re in a different place today,” Obama said, touting the latest jobs numbers released Friday morning that showed 223,000 new jobs and an unemployment rate that dropped to 5.4 percent.

The White House teased Obama’s appearance with a tweet showing a younger Obama sporting Nike kicks while playing basketball for Punahou School in Hawaii.