Malcolm Turnbull looks to seal US TPP as Obama nears lame duck status

The PM wants the trans-Pacific trade pact sealed before it is killed off by either Clinton or Trump after the election.

Australia is pushing at every level to get the US Congress to ratify the trans-Pacific trade agreement before Barack Obama passes into his “lame duck” leadership and the deal is killed off by either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump after the election.

Malcolm Turnbull said in New York that the passage of the trans-Pacific Partnership is the economic side of the US President’s “pivot to Asia” and a test of global leadership for the US.

US Treasury Secretary, Jack Lew, told the Prime Minister he “is optimistic” Congress will ratify the agreement before the change of President and former New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who was elected as a Republican, said there is “no more important legislation” to be passed in a meeting with Mr Turnbull.

Mr Turnbull, Julie Bishop and the Australian Ambassador to Washington, Joe Hockey, have all expressed concern publicly that the Congress will stall the US ratification of the agreement with Asia-Pacific nations and that both US Presidential candidates have said they will not ratify it.

Despite Mr Lew’s optimism and Mr Bloomberg’s support — the billionaire businessman has endorsed Hillary Clinton over Mr Trump — there are growing fears a hostile Congress will block Mr Obama’s desperate attempts to seal the deal.

Mr Turnbull said the TPP was “more than just economics”.

“It is more than just trade, although that is critically important. It is a statement of America’s commitment to the region,” Mr Turnbull said at the New York Stock Exchange.

“It is a critically important political statement, as well as being a free-trade agreement.

“It is the economic aspect of the pivot to Asia that President Obama launched some years ago. It is a question of leadership and we are encouraging the United States Congress to step up to it,” Mr Turnbull said.

Australia wants the TPP to complement the three bilateral trade deals signed with China, Japan and South Korea in the first year of the Abbott government.

The Prime Minister has been arguing at the United Nations General Assembly week that free trade has lifted billions our of poverty and protectionist tendencies must be opposed.

“We know where protectionism takes you — the United States experimented with it after the Great Depression and made the Depression so much worse. So it is very important to resist those calls,” he said.

Mr Bloomberg, who has been a Democrat as well as a Republican, said there is no more important legislation to the US than passing the TPP and that America should also pass a similar agreement with the United Kingdom and the European Union.

“I don’t think there’s anything that is more important to this country in terms of legislation than passing TPP,” he said.

“It would be a terrible shame for America, which is my main interest, but also all of our partners, trading partners around the world.”

Mr Turnbull said the pair were “of the same mind”.

Last Friday Mr Bloomberg was among a group of politicians and business leaders Mr Obama invited to discuss the trade pact at the White House.