Despite facing harsh criticism from his own Democratic Party, President Barack Obama doubled down on his push for Congress to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive trade deal currently being negotiated between the U.S. and 11 Latin American and Asian countries.

President Obama and Republicans who support the TPP deal say it would expand trade and investment for the U.S. while providing a boost to U.S. exports and small businesses.

However, trade unions, environmental groups and high-profile Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren have publicly bashed Obama for supporting the massive trade deal, arguing that it would send American jobs overseas and put American workers in direct competition with low-paid workers in other countries. They also say the deal champions corporate interests and lobbyist groups and could cost Americans Internet freedom, labor rights, access to affordable medicine and the safety protections that keep our food and water clean.

During a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Obama stressed that failing to pass TPP would cede economic power to China.

"If we don't write the rules, China will write the rules out in that region," Obama told the WSJ on Monday. "We will be shut out -- American businesses and American agriculture. That will mean a loss of U.S. jobs."

Obama went on to explain the danger of losing ground in economic competition with China if the trade deal is not passed.

"We want China to be successful. We want China to continue to embark on its peaceful rise," he said. "I think that's good for the world. ... We just want to make sure that the rules of the road allow us to compete and everybody else to compete. We don't want China to use its size to muscle other countries in the region around rules that disadvantage us."

However, Vox points out that because China is not part of TPP, the agreement would have no authority to stop China from "subsidizing its exports or stealing American technology.".

"And the Obama administration has pointedly refused to include currency manipulation language in the TPP, arguing that insisting on it would cause countries like Japan to walk away from the table," writes Vox.