WASHINGTON — Few issues in this campaign cycle seem as toxic as trade: Both major-party presidential candidates oppose President Obama’s 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, and congressional leaders, having refused all year to vote on the trade accord until after the election, say they will not do so even then — potentially killing the largest regional trade pact in history.

Two insurance industry groups today offered their backing of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement after the U.S. formally rolled out a proposal to tweak its language on financial data localization.

The American Insurance Association said it supports the proposal, which the U.S. wants TPP countries to adopt and will introduce for inclusion in trade talks on services with the European Union and in the Trade in Services Agreement, an ongoing negotiation solely related to services issues.

The move, led by the Treasury Department, comes after the Obama administration faced criticism from the financial industry and lawmakers over worries that the TPP as negotiated didn’t do enough to prevent countries from forcing financial companies to store data on servers on their soil.

“AIA offers its strong endorsement of the U.S. financial data proposal and looks forward to supporting ongoing efforts on the TPP, TiSA and TTIP,” Steve Simchak, the AIA’s director of international affairs, said in a Tuesday statement. “The reality is that, while the U.S. market is open, U.S. Insurers face enormous barriers in many markets abroad.  These agreements have the backing of the U.S. insurance industry because of the enormous benefits they provide, including the new financial services data fix.”

Property and Casualty Insurers of America Vice President Dave Snyder separately called on Congress to pass the TPP, though he didn’t mention the data fix.

MetLife CEO Steven Kandarian has backed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and urged the US Congress to ratify the free trade agreement.

“As one of the largest life insurers in the world, with operations in nearly 50 countries, MetLife has four key priorities in assessing any trade deal: improved market access, a level competitive playing field, ease of cross-border data flows and regulatory transparency,” he said.

“The TPP makes meaningful progress on all of them. We are confident that ratification of the TPP will lead to faster economic growth, greater choice and lower costs for consumers.”

MetLife has operations in eight of the 12 Pacific Rim countries represented under the TPP: Australia, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Vietnam, Singapore and the US.

“The agreement is not perfect – no trade deal is – but on balance the TPP represents a significant step in the right direction and deserves to be ratified,” Mr Kandarian said.

The White House is likely to formally notify Congress on Thursday that President Barack Obama intends to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a senior administration official said.

The text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (“TPP”) agreement was released to the public for the first time today.  The TPP has yet to be ratified by the twelve Pacific Rim nations that negotiated the agreement, including the United States, where it has encountered opposition in Congress.  The nations that participated in the negotiations for the agreement are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam. – See more at: http://www.natlawreview.com/article/trans-pacific-partnership-trade-agreement-may-authorize-cross-border-data-flows#sthash.WXb61eCK.dpuf

Foreign business lobbies have asked China to substantially revise proposed cyber security regulations for the insurance industry, signaling a dispute that started with the publication of similar bank technology rules earlier this year may widen.

THE OBAMA administration released the full text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement at 4 a.m. on Nov. 5 — and it did not take long for critics to pass judgment. Having previously (and hyperbolically) taken the administration to task for negotiating the 12-nation deal in secret, they promptly denounced the actual text as a job-destroying sellout to corporations that threatens the environment, human rights and health. “In the end the TPP was worse than we thought it would be,” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) declared, in a news release issued within eight hours of the 4,500-page document’s release.

NEW YORK, Nov. 18, 2015 – Steven A. Kandarian, chairman, president and CEO of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), issued the following statement today on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free trade agreement among 12 nations of the Pacific Rim.

“After analyzing the text of the TPP, MetLife will support the agreement and seek congressional support for its ratification.”

“As one of the largest life insurers in the world with operations in nearly 50 countries, MetLife has four key priorities in assessing any trade deal: improved market access, a level competitive playing field, ease of cross-border data flows, and regulatory transparency. The TPP makes meaningful progress on all of them.”

“We are confident that ratification of the TPP will lead to faster economic growth, greater choice and lower costs for consumers in the markets where we do business, and more high-paying jobs in the U.S.”

“The agreement is not perfect – no trade deal is – but on balance the TPP represents a significant step in the right direction and deserves to be ratified.”

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 24, 2015 – MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) applauds action by both the House and the Senate to renew Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation.

The final congressional approval of TPA provides a path forward for the pending Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is critical to U.S. companies doing business in the Asia-Pacific region. The trade agreements facilitated by TPA will encourage access to the financial protection and other life insurance products that are in growing demand globally.