Hillary Clinton Speaks Out in Iowa on TPP: "I’ve been for trade deals, I’ve been against them" [View all]

Hillary Clinton: I’ve been for trade deals, I’ve been against them

By Gabriel Debenedetti

5/19/15 12:14 PM EDT

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday she is reserving judgment on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal until she sees the final version, again declining to take sides in Washington’s brewing trade debate.

“I have said I want to judge the final agreement,” said Clinton in response to a question about the deal from an Iowan sitting next to her at a roundtable at a bike store and repair shop. “I have been for trade agreements, I have been against trade agreements.”

The Democratic front-runner’s repeated punting on this issue has frustrated both supporters and critics of the trade negotiations that President Barack Obama has made a central part of his last two years in office.

Clinton on Tuesday acknowledged that the trade issue is “obviously a very hot topic right now” and reiterated that any final pact must increase jobs, wages and economic security.

She also expressed concern about currency manipulation and a provision to give corporations “more power to overturn health and environmental and labor rules than consumers have.”

“I’ve been very clear on this,” Clinton said.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/hillary-clinton-trade-deals-reaction-tpp-118089.html?hp=l4_4