Diplomat Jim Patterson and Senator Dianne Feinstein on TPA

Dear Mr. Patterson:

Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns regarding Trade Promotion Authority (TPA).  I appreciate the time you took to write, and I welcome the opportunity to respond.

First, please know that as a U.S. Senator, I carefully review each free-trade agreement that comes before me to ensure that the best interests of American workers and businesses are served, and that the agreement will not adversely affect the U.S. economy, human rights, labor rights or environmental standards.

As you are aware, I voted in favor of TPA—otherwise known as fast-track authority—because it grants the President the ability to finalize the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). I believe that increasing free trade with our neighbors in the Pacific Rim is squarely in our economic and national security interests. 

The process of considering trade legislation has enabled me to see the extraordinary importance of trade to California's economy, and I wanted to share some of this information with you.

Today, trade supports more than 4.7 million jobs in California, and nearly 40 million nationwide. More than 75,000 California businesses export goods out of the state, and 95 percent of those are small- or medium-sized, meaning they have fewer than 500 employees. Since 2009, jobs related to merchandise trade have increased by 11 percent in California, and research has shown that firms that export pay their employees 15 percent more than those that do not.

Three of California's major sectors benefit substantially from trade:

• The services sector—both high-skilled professional services as well as lower-skilled services such as accommodation, food and administration—have helped lead California's economic recovery since the 2008 recession. Services exports have been a key contributor to that sector. For instance, in 2013, California exported $114 billion in services, a 58 percent growth over 2006. This has translated to job growth: last year, 66 percent of all new jobs in California were in the services sector. By reducing barriers to services exports, the Trans-Pacific Partnership is expected to boost this critical sector of our growing economy.  

• In 2014, California exported $174.1 billion in total merchandise goods and over the past 10 years, exports from California to existing free-trade partners grew by 50 percent. If past trade deals are any indication of the future, then our merchandise industry will continue to grow under TPP. Today, California's exports of computer and electronic products face tariffs as high as 35 percent, while transportation equipment and machinery face tariffs as high as 70 percent, both of which will be reduced under TPP. 

• California agriculture also relies on exports. In 2013, agricultural exports were valued at $21.2 billion, making our agriculture industry the largest by value in the United States. According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture study, under TPP nationwide agriculture exports are expected to increase by 5.4 percent by 2025. As with our merchandise exports, our agriculture products currently face steep tariffs in the Asia-Pacific region. Dairy products face a tariff of up to 35 percent in Japan while walnuts face a 30 percent tariff in Vietnam. With these tariffs reduced or eliminated, the TPP will help California's farmers, ranchers and producers. 

The bottom line is that trade has been critical for California's economic growth, and it will be vital to sustaining that growth.  

As you know, past trade deals have negatively affected certain areas of our workforce. This is why in addition to supporting TPA, I also strongly support Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA). TAA provides workers displaced by trade with job retraining and other assistance. I look forward to TAA becoming law as soon as possible, and as a member of the Appropriations Committee, I will continue to push for funds for the program each year. 

Lastly, it is important to note that beyond economic considerations, the proposed TPP is key for our national security and foreign policy objectives. TPP will require our trade partners to raise their standards with respect to human rights and workers' rights. Further, it will require countries like Vietnam and Malaysia to improve their laws and enforcement against human trafficking and wildlife trafficking, which I believe are absolutely critical. 

Additionally, TPP will help the United States re-balance our global priorities to take into account the increasing role of the Asia-Pacific region. Pursuing free and fair trade with our allies in the region is a key part of that re-balance. By creating a free trade zone, we will be ensuring its member countries play by internationally-recognized rules that we will help establish. Rejecting this trade deal would cede influence to countries that do not share our commitment to worker rights, human rights and environmental stewardship. 

As the information above demonstrates, trade is economically vital for California and the nation, which is why I will continue to support Trade Promotion Authority.

Sincerely yours,


  Dianne Feinstein
         United States Senator Comment: Senator Feinstein's letters and position on TPA improved greatly. Her staff when from a position that the TPP was secret and they did not know the content of it and would take a leadership position on something unseen. Ambassador Froman told me on many occasions the TPP was the most transparent free trade agreement in history. President Obama said they same.  It seems, based on this letter, she has either seen the agreement or based on the economics of the agreement to California, she accepts the economic and political reality of the U.S. taking a major trade initiative in Asia and competing with the influence of China.  As a diplomat and an economist, I agree with her "trade is economically vital for California and the nation."
These letters are always undated but this one came into our account July 14, 2015. Jim Patterson

Diplomat Jim Patterson on the Canadian Dairy Dispute Holding Up TPP

Canadian Subsidies Distort Trade

The current U.S.-Canada dairy dispute blocking finalization of the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a legacy of the Clinton administration’s Nafta failures

Published July 16, 2015 5:43 p.m. ET in response to a Wall Street Journal article on Canadian dairy subsidies distorting trade. All subsidies distort trade and the US is the biggest trade distorter on agricultural products and the loudest to shout over agricultural subsidies by other nations. There is too much soft diplomacy, assurances, side letters, etc. etc. that nullify major portions of trade agreements, benefit corporate agribusiness, penalize small farmers and adversely impact labor markets. Politicians are poor negotiators.

The public despises NAFTA for all the wrong reasons. It was a distorted free trade agreement by US and Canadian political interests and commodity groups. 

Dear Sirs, 

I speak as an agricultural economist (Auburn University) who worked on the North American Free Trade Agreement at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the 1990s. The current U.S.-Canada dairy dispute blocking finalization of the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a legacy of the Clinton administration’s Nafta failures (“U.S.-Canada Dairy Dispute Sours Trade Negotiations,” U.S. News, July 11).

It was a huge mistake by U.S. negotiators to allow Canada to legally violate the terms of Nafta with regard to dairy. Former President Bill Clinton also let U.S. commodity groups violate the terms of Nafta. Only Mexico is forced to comply with the most oppressive terms of Nafta to protect U.S. and Canadian trade interests. Is there any wonder why most Americans don’t trust Washington on so-called free-trade deals?

Do the Canadian dairy subsidies distort trade in dairy products? Yes, they do, and they distort trade far beyond dairy. President Obama and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and the whole of the U.S. are seeing just how distortive these and other subsidies can be. They are holding up a trade deal economically vital to the U.S. and its Asian trading partners. The Clinton legacy of “free trade” distortion will limit the success of the TPP unless Canadian subsidies are eliminated.

James Patterson
San Francisco 

Diplomat Jim Patterson Associate Member of Korean veterans Association

Diplomat Jim Patterson, a Life Member of the American Foreign Service Association, recently attended events in Washington DC commemorating the Korean War (June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953). Patterson's late father, James G. Patterson, was a Korean veteran. 

Sixty-seven nations, including the U.S., Canada and Mexico, joined in supporting the Republic of Korea from the Communist attack. Flags from each nation were arrayed with era war and peace photographs on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House. (Photo courtesy of National Park Service)

Jim Patterson is an Associate Member of the Korean Veterans Association.

At his Silicon Valley Office, Patterson is active with the Korean community. In this photograph he is meeting Mike Kim, an executive with LinkedIn and a member of the San Francisco Seoul Sister City business delegation.

This event, an international cultural reception for South Korea, was held at San Francisco's World Affairs Council. Patterson and Kim discussed technology, Korean unification, the U.S. role in Korea, South Korea's world famous football team, human rights abuses in North Korea, continuing political tensions with the North and and the delectable qualities of South Korean food, especially barbeque. South Korea's flag is in the background. (Photograph courtesy World Affairs Council.)

Jim Patterson and President Obama on China

Dear James: Thank you for writing.  I welcome the continuing rise of a China that is peaceful, prosperous, and stable, and that plays a responsible role in the world.  The United States has much to gain from a closer working relationship with China, and there are very few global challenges we can address effectively without its active cooperation.  With significant resources and skill in addressing a range of challenges, China plays a major part in the global economy, and engagement with the Chinese government is important to ensuring strong, sustainable, and balanced growth around the world.  My Administration is working with China on a number of issues, including stopping North Korea’s nuclear program, food safety and public health, energy security and climate change, and nuclear non-proliferation and counterterrorism.  We want to deepen our cooperation in addressing these issues in the years ahead. In addition to expanding practical cooperation, I am also committed to working with our Chinese counterparts to constructively manage our differences.  Improved relations with China will require candor and open discussion about those issues on which we may disagree.  We must address human rights, democracy, and free speech, as well as cybersecurity and maritime issues, and we must create a level playing field for American workers, ranchers, and businesses.  We must also strive to ensure that the global economic system is governed by international rules based on open and transparent economic competition.  These important matters will be essential elements of our ongoing engagement with China. Thank you, again, for writing.  For more information on my foreign policy agenda, I encourage you to visit www.WhiteHouse.gov/Issues/Foreign-Policy. Sincerely, Barack Obama