President Barack Obama's effort to include Malaysia in a major pending trade pact has baffled human rights advocates, who see it as a reward for a regime with one of the world's worst human trafficking records. But the myriad interests involved in the trade fight include some very large American corporations, which are currently padding their profits with labor costs kept low by modern-day slavery in Malaysia...

...Human rights groups heralded the language, which was authored by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). So did Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who said inclusion in TPP "is an opportunity for the United States to use our leverage to get countries like Malaysia to clean up their acts." The Obama administration, by contrast, claims that including Malaysia in the TPP deal will give it more policy tools to fight human trafficking in Malaysia.

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