Vietnam Says Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade agreement Not Open to Renegotiation

Suggested lead: "if not TPP, then what?" – That's the question the Washington Post asked in a weekend editorial, challenging opponents to the Trans-Pacific Partnership to come up with a suitable trade deal replacement, to help keep the peace in Asia and the Pacific.

The Post challenges TPP critics in the face of what it calls the "remote" prospect a lame-duck Congress will heed President Barack Obama's call to pass the massive trade deal, viewed as a hedge against Chinese expansionism.

"What is your alternative?" the paper asks, but argues the issue's more difficult for Hillary Clinton than Donald Trump, especially since it says Clinton changed her stance under pressure from Senator Bernie Sanders, and China failed to moderate its behavior as a new World Trade Organization member during President Bill Clinton's tenure.

The Obama Administration's U.S. Trade Ambassador Michael Froman urges TPP passage as a counterweight to China...tape

We don't want the rules of the road to be set by other countries who may not share our interests and values so there is a lot at stake economically as well as strategically

Trade negotiators from Vietnam say the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement is not open to renegotiation, pushing back against calls from select U.S. politicians that say the deal needs amended to their liking. Bloomberg reports a Vietnam trade official said the agreement strikes the best possible balance among the interests of the deal's 12 members.