Obama faces battle over trade deals
An alliance of progressive Democrats and Tea-Party Republicans oppose fast-track powers for the president arguing that the TPP and TTIP will hurt ordinary Americans
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Washington
DEBATE over US global trade policy make for strange political bedfellows. So as Washington prepares for another of those debates - this time over the proposed trade deals with 11 Asia-Pacific countries and the 28-nation European Union (EU) - the political and legislative showdown is not going to be between the two long-time bitter foes, Democratic President Barack Obama and the Republican congressional leaders.
Instead, in the coming clash over whether to give the green light to President Obama to conclude negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), leading the fight against more free trade would be an axis of left-wing protectionists and right-wing populists who say that these deals only advance the interests of America's political and economic elites and hurt most Americans.
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