Delegates from North Carolina, where the majority of the nation’s tobacco is grown, says language unveiled this week in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) unfairly targets the Tar Heel State’s prized crop.
 
North Carolina Republican Sens. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr supported legislation handing President Obama fast-track authority, which leaves Congress without a chance to amend the TPP, though they warned the White House not to heed calls to exempt tobacco from protections allowed for other agricultural sectors.
 
The final deal between the United States and 11 other nations, however, removes legal protections for tobacco interests, giving the participating countries more power to deliver potent health messages. 
 
“Breaking the long-standing tradition of not picking winners and losers in trade agreements, the Obama Administration has decided to use the TPP as a laboratory for partisan politics by discriminating against specific agricultural commodities,” Tillis said in a statement. 
 
“This sets a dangerous precedent for future trade agreements, and I will not only vote against the TPP, but actively work to help defeat its ratification in the Senate.”

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