With the increase in car sales, Senator Sherrod Brown warns against Trans-Pacific Partnership threat to turn its back on auto industry recovery and hurt auto jobs.

U.S. car sales hit a record high in 2015.

“To continue that progress and protect jobs, we must ensure a level playing field for America's auto suppliers, but TPP and it's weak auto provisions stand to roll back recovery and cost Ohio jobs,” said Brown.

The United States and 11 other countries negotiated with the TPP.

Brown wrote a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in September. In the letter, Brown urged him to negotiate an agreement that holds Japan to its commitment, which includes phasing out its tariffs in accordance with the longest staging period, use NAFTA-based rules of origin as a basis for TPP and include provisions to remove non-tariff barriers, including currency manipulation.

Brown sent a similar letter to Froman in December 2014.