Rejoining TPP Trade Deal Trump's Biggest Broken Promise to US Workers - Sanders

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - President Donald Trump’s proposal that the United States potentially rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement is another betrayal of US workers and will not bring a single previously outsourced job back, US Senator Bernie Sanders said in a statement.

"In a series of broken promises President Trump made to the working people of this country, rejoining the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership would be the biggest yet," the statement said on Thursday. "Joining the TPP would not bring back one American job that has been outsourced to China."

Sanders argued in the statement that it has been bad enough to force US workers to compete with low-wage labor, but rejoining the TPP deal would make the situation even worse.

"[T]hey should not be forced to compete with no-wage labor," Sanders said.

Earlier on Thursday, US media reported that Trump directed his advisers to look into the United States rejoining the TPP trade agreement. Trump withdrew the United States from the TPP days after becoming president in January 2017.

Sanders said in the statement that the United States must rewrite its trade policies to benefit US workers, not just the CEOs of large, multinational corporations.

"Rejoining the TPP would be a betrayal of American workers, and a step in the wrong direction," the statement said.

Since Trump took office, the US trade deficits with China and Mexico have increased by more than $35 billion, despite his tough talk on trade, Sanders added.

The TPP trade agreement was signed in 2016 and originally included 12 Pacific Rim nations, including the United States. However, the deal was never ratified and therefore never took effect.