Tillis, Peters Voice Serious Concerns to USTR Froman on Provision to Include China in TPP

Press Release

U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Gary Peters (D-MI) announced today that they are leading a bipartisan letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman about a possible special docking provision that could allow for the future addition of countries like China to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

"The Chinese government has consistently intervened in currency markets to manipulate the value of their currency against the U.S. dollar," the senators wrote in the letter. "We have serious concerns about an agreement which would welcome countries with a history of currency manipulation, intellectual property theft, and failure to abide by existing global trade norms without prior Congressional approval and oversight."

U.S. negotiators have indicated that a final TPP agreement could include a special docking provision to allow for the inclusion of new member countries in future years, including Korea, Thailand, the Philippines and China.

In 2014, five Chinese military officers were charged with stealing intellectual property from American companies. The U.S. Justice Department's indictment focused on the steel and solar industries where Chinese exports have been driving concerns from American companies about unfair trade practices.

The United States has also brought 16 World Trade Organization dispute settlement cases against China that include charges on export subsidies, restrictions on trading and distribution rights and intellectual property rights.

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