YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown says he’s pushing back against the Biden Administration’s latest trade proposals with Pacific-rim nations.
Brown says the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework wouldn’t be enforceable and doesn’t meet the needs of American labor, so he urged President Joe Biden to remove certain language from the plan.
“People in Ohio know that presidents of both parties, for decades, have sold them out on trade issues, causing a huge loss of American jobs,” Brown said. “When the administration wanted to move ahead on this new trade idea — this ‘new trade pillar,’ as they call it, potential trade agreement in the Pacific-rim countries — we said ‘no.'”
Brown is calling for a pause on trade agreements until workers are “at the table” and there is “real enforcement.”
“We convinced the administration to stop. I don’t care what party the president is. I’ve taken on presidents in both parties, and I’ll continue to,” Brown said.
In the end, the disputed language was removed from the proposal ahead of this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Forum in San Francisco.
