Singapore State Visit: Obama Upbeat On TPP Despite Political Foes

Kevin Liptak
CNN White House Producer

WASHINGTON — (CNN) One of the few issues that the top Democratic and Republican candidates have agreed on in 2016 is that a massive Pacific trade deal on the table is a bad idea.

Yet President Barack Obama is forging ahead with his bid to more forward on the Trans-Pacific Partnership during talks with Singapore’s leader in Washington Tuesday.

The White House is honoring Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong with the highest form of Washington flattery: a formal state visit capped by a black-tie dinner featuring Maryland blue crab and American Wagyu beef. Midday, the leaders will hold a joint news conference.

The grand welcome — the first of its kind for a Southeast Asian country under Obama — is another attempt to advance the historic TPP deal, which has been agreed to by 12 member nations but needs congressional ratification.

Despite the lack of traction on Capitol Hill and regular beatings the topic gets on the campaign trail, Obama plans to reiterate his commitment to seeing the deal through Tuesday.

“He will once again say to the Prime Minister that he’s committed to getting TPP done, and doing so before the end of his term,” Daniel Kritenbrink, Obama’s Asia director, said on Friday.

But it’s unclear what assurances Obama can provide to the visiting leader from Singapore, one of the 12 signatories to the agreement. Republican leaders in Congress have said they don’t plan to bring TPP up for consideration until after November’s general election, if at all. And both Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, and Hillary Clinton, the Democrat, rail against the deal.

Delegates at last week’s Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia voiced strong anti-TPP sentiment, claiming the deal would destroy American jobs.

But Obama insisted in an interview published Monday that he would succeed in getting approval for the deal.

“I know that the politics around trade can be very difficult — especially in an election year,” Obama told Singapore newspaper The Strait Times. “There are legitimate concerns and anxieties that the forces of globalization are leaving too many people behind — and we have to take those concerns seriously and address them.”

“The answer isn’t to turn inward and embrace protectionism,” Obama said. “We can’t just walk away from trade. In a global economy where our economies and supply chains are deeply integrated, it’s not even possible.”

During talks Tuesday morning, Obama and Lee are also expected to discuss efforts to combat terror, including in Southeast Asia, where Islamist cells are known to operate.