Secretary of State John Kerry defended a 12-nation Pacific trade agreement on Tuesday against what he suggested was fear-mongering by the leading U.S. presidential candidates, NBC News reported.
Kerry argued that the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal that the Obama administration negotiated would be good for the U.S. economy even as he acknowledged American workers' fears about free trade agreements.
"Many Americans still feel a sense of anxiety about TPP and T-TIP. In fact, they've been revved up to have some anxiety about anything related to trade," Kerry said in a speech in Los Angeles, also referring to a trade deal with Europe called the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
Some of workers' mistrust of trade agreements "comes from politicians who play to fears," he added. "It comes also from legitimate anger about the economic status of millions of our fellow citizens who have not gained from trade."
