President To Highlight Benefits Of Expanded Trade At Nike, Despite Protests

President Obama is flying to Portland, Oregon, today for a Democratic fundraising dinner. And tomorrow morning, he’ll go to nearby Beaverton to visit Nike’s gleaming 270-acre campus.

Obama is expected to use that Nike backdrop to discuss the upsides of giving U.S. companies greater access to Asian markets and, he hopes, bolster support for the proposed Trans-Pacific trade pact.

But protesters will be outside of the dinner tonight, and outside Nike tomorrow, arguing that Nike sends virtually all of its manufacturing overseas – and that the company offers a perfect example of why Congress should stop the trade deal.

Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson talks to NPR senior business editor Marilyn Geewax about why the President chose to go to Nike to talk about trade, and what protestors are saying.