“There's no reason we need to wait that long, particularly when you consider that ratifying the TPP would hasten the end to 18,000 taxes that other countries impose on American goods,” Earnest told reporters during a May 5 briefing with reporters.
In recent weeks lawmakers from both sides of the aisle voiced optimism that TPP can be ratified this year, including Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas.
Meanwhile, as New Zealand also moves toward TPP ratification, the nation’s Maori indigenous people said that provisions of the TPP adequately protect their treaty rights under the centuries-old “Treaty of Waitangi.”
A specific TPP exception clause states that “nothing in this agreement shall preclude the adoption by New Zealand of measures it deems necessary to accord more favorable treatment to Maori in respect of matters covered by this agreement, including in fulfilment of its obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi”