By Kristi Ellis
“The unions were totally opposed to NAFTA,” said Julia Hughes, president of the U.S. Fashion Industry Association. “Republicans didn’t want to give anything to Clinton either, which is not that different from these days. But Clinton was personally engaged in the discussions…and he built a war room and had a very aggressive campaign in the White House, as well as throughout the agencies, to push for it. I think that is a good model and I certainly hope the administration will eventually move to be that aggressive.”
Hughes added that U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman has been thoroughly engaged with members of Congress and the private sector, as have several cabinet members. Froman recently defended the hard effort he and the administration have put into making a case for TPA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.