The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) just released its 792-page report on the economic impact of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. While NTU has not taken a position on the overall agreement, it is encouraging to see the potential for significant economic gains. The report estimates that by year 15 of implementation, TPP will increase U.S. real income by $57.3 billion and create 128,000 new jobs.
By way of comparison, the Peterson Institute for International Economics issued a report on TPP earlier this year that projected that U.S. income gains would amount to $131 billion annually, but that the agreement would have little impact on overall domestic employment figures.
The economic projections in the ITC and Peterson Institute reports are certainly positive; however, NTU continues to evaluate the overall merits of TPP – a massive deal involving 11 other nations. Large, multi-lateral trade deals like TPP are never perfect and must be thoroughly scrutinized to ensure they are in the best interests of taxpayers and the economy at-large.