Breaking with Obama, Clinton opposes Pacific trade pact

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton brushes off a lady bug that landed on her as she speaks Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015, during a campaign stop at the Westfair Amphitheater in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton brushes off a lady bug that landed on her as she speaks Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015, during a campaign stop at the Westfair Amphitheater in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

MOUNT VERNON, Iowa -- Hillary Rodham Clinton declared her opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade accord Wednesday, marking a break with President Barack Obama and the policies she once promoted as his chief diplomat.

"I think there are still a lot of unanswered questions," she said of the trade deal in an interview with PBS' Newshour. "As of today, I am not in favor of what I have learned about it."

Clinton joins the rest of the Democratic field in challenging a trade pact that's angered the labor unions, environmentalists and other liberal constituencies.

In the interview, Clinton said the agreement does not meet her standard for creating jobs, raising wages and protecting national security. She raised specific concerns about a potential for currency manipulation by China and provisions that she said would benefit pharmaceutical companies at the expense of patients.

A Section on 10/08/2015

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