U.S. presidential and congressional candidates may be falling over themselves to disavow the freshly negotiated Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), but the trade deal isn't dead, John Negroponte, a storied former U.S. diplomat told the Credit Suisse Megatrends conference in Singapore Thursday. The TPP is a trade and investment agreement among Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the U.S. and Vietnam. The accord includes several policies that would make trade and investment run more smoothly between Pacific countries — key among them is lowering tariffs. "Trade is a politically tragic issue in our country and it has to do with globalization and this sort of apprehension in the minds of people that somehow jobs are being lost as a result of globalization. That is not a new preoccupation," Negroponte, who was ambassador to Mexico from 1989-1993 and was involved in the negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), said. That deal was also a political hot potato, with then candidate Ross Perot famously claiming it would result in a "giant sucking sound" as U.S. jobs were sent to Mexico.

Trade ministers from a dozen Pacific nations in Trans-Pacific Partnership Ministers meeting post in TPP Ministers "Family Photo" in Atlanta, Georgia October 1, 2015. Trade ministers from a dozen Pacific nations meeting in Atlanta extended talks on a sweeping trade deal until Saturday in a bid to get a final agreement on the most ambitious trade pact in a generation. USTR Press Office | Handout | Reuters

But Negroponte, who served multiple administrations over his more than 40-year career as a diplomat, said the rhetoric was more pronounced this time around. Despite the opposition, Negroponte still expects the deal to be ratified. "We have a window in the lame duck after our elections and before the new congress takes office for getting the TPP ratified. I think we have a good chance of getting it done even though there's been a lot of political verbiage surrounding the issues," he said. That period runs from early November through January 20.

