Patagonia broke from other major outdoor brands early Friday morning with a scathing critique of the the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement and fast track approval process backed by Outdoor Industry Association.

“We stand to gain financially from TPP and the potential duty relief on products made within the region, but the minor potential gains are not worth the social and environmental costs,” Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario wrote in an article published on the company's blog, The Cleanest Line. “We have listened closely to the Administration’s assurances that TPP affords unprecedented environmental and labor protections in a trade agreement. We are not persuaded, for several reasons.”

Marcario went on to criticize the opaque nature of TPP negotiations and the failure of past U.S. presidents to enforce provisions of past trade agreements that were designed to protect the environment and U.S. workers. 

The post adds to a crescendo of opposition leading into today's expected vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), or so-called “fast-track” legislation.  Such legislation  would assure the Obama Administration and the other 11 countries negotiating the TPP that Congress would not seek to amend the trade pact when it comes to them for ratification. Congress would only be able to vote for or against the trade deal as presented.

“Patagonia opposed the NAFTA and GATT agreements of the early 1990s because we suspected they would adversely affect our own business,” Marcario wrote. “They did. Before those agreements came into force, more than half of Patagonia’s garments were sourced from U.S. textile mills and sewn in U.S. factories. NAFTA and GATT decimated the U.S. textile industry, including its specialty, high-value manufacturers.

Marcario said  American businesses and voters don't have the information they need to determine who will benefit from the TPP, which will govern trade among a dozen countries in Asia and the Western Hemisphere and is designed in part to counter China's growing economic hegemony.

“If we and every other American citizen had a chance to see the
agreement, we could debate its merits directly,” Marcario wrote.
“Americans are being asked to write a blank check with blind faith.
Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives considering their
upcoming votes should vote against Fast Track authority.”

In a missive to OIA members Thursday night, OIA Trade Policy Adviser Rich Harper said the bill
was expected to pass by a slim margin, possibly as early as Friday, June
12. By Friday morning, he had posted an article on OIA's website defending its support for TPP and
TPA. While
not mentioning Patagonia, the article acknowledges some OIA members' objections to the legislation and provides a point-by-point rebuttal to TPP critics.