By Kristi Ellis
..."Obviously, what is positive about the platform is the support of trade promotion authority [that allows the president to negotiate trade agreements with countries and submit them to Congress for an up or down vote without amendment] and for the conclusion of the TPP negotiations,” said Julia Hughes, president of the U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles & Apparel.
Hughes said she would have liked to have seen more details about the Republican's position on TPP.
“There are a lot of unresolved issues relating to TPP and it would have been good to get insight into what the Republican party’s position is on that,” she said.
As for the platform’s stance on China, Hughes said: “I don’t think people should read too much into the fact that the platform takes such a hard line. It raises some concern, but I think there are many platform points that never see the light of day once a candidate is in office...”