Trade deals 'lightning rod' for anger: ALP

Trade deals have become a lightning rod for voter anger and future pacts need to include more worker protections, Labor says.

The opposition's trade spokesman Jason Clare insists the Trans-Pacific Partnership is dead following the election of Donald Trump, with free trade in the US now about as "popular as a snake in a sleeping bag".

"Trade deals aren't the reason people are hurting, but they are a lightning rod for the anger and frustration people are feeling," he writes in the Australian Financial Review on Wednesday.