More than 80,000 hourly and salaried U.S. auto workers signed a petition urging Congress to oppose approving a free-trade deal including Japan without significant changes on auto policy and currency by the world’s third-largest economy.
The petitions arriving at Capitol Hill offices Tuesday from employees at General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC strongly urge Congress to oppose completing the Trans-Pacific Partnership with Japan unless currency manipulation and non-tariff barriers are addressed.
The petition came on the same day that a House Democratic leader on trade policy said the time is right to press Japan on its closed markets as Japan formally joins the United States and 10 other Asia-Pacific nations in negotiations to create the major new trade bloc.