Putin's complaint on the TPP is the same as congressional GOP

By Pete Kasperowicz, Pete Kasperowicz

Published December 20, 2015

Russian President Vladimir Putin joined Republican members of Congress this week to complain that the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal was negotiated in secret, something that won't help liberalize trade in Asia.

"Overall, the creation of new free trade zones will help to create conditions for liberalizing trade and investment in the region," Putin wrote late Monday in USA Today. "At the same time, however, the confidential fashion in which the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations were conducted is probably not the best way to facilitate sustainable growth in the Asia-Pacific region."

Republicans in the House and Senate have said the confidentially negotiated TPP has now been exposed as a deal that doesn't benefit the U.S. enough.

But Putin's complaint was that the joint development of trade liberalization practices would best help Asia. He said that can't happen unless trade deals are done in a coordinated fashion.