Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal: the issues, the method, the opposition

Tony Seed

Indepth report by Renewal Update, May 25, 2016

Demonstrations at hearings oppose the deal

 

The people’s opposition is deepening the legitimacy crisis of the institutions which advocate the neo-liberal agenda and the parties which champion it. Their attempt to use public consultations to give legitimacy to a neo-liberal free trade deal that has already been negotiated and signed behind the backs of Canadians is seriously at risk. In every city where the government’s consultations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) have been held, Canadians inside and outside pointed out that far from upholding trade on the basis of mutual benefit, the TPP puts trade further under the domination of global monopolies in pursuit of their own private interests. It is a nation-wrecking agreement that attacks the right of Canadians to sovereign decision-making power.

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How the Bankers Stand to Profit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Susan Posel
 
Concerning the future of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the president is expected to accelerate talks and negotiations to play import/export with other nations to ensure profits for rich countries and control one-third of global trade.

Payoffs for successful positioning regarding the TPP have left some bankers just a little bit richer.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan & Chase, Blackstone Group, Fannie Mae, Northern Trust and Northrop Grumman extend financial kickbacks for government service.

Stefan Selig, investment banker for Bank of America (BoA) has been paid an estimated $9 million in bonuses and $5.1 million in incentives to work on international trade with the Department of Commerce.
Citigroup will offer executive contracts for “full time high level positions with the US government or regulatory body.”

Michael Froman, former Citigroup banker and current representative for US Trade has been given more than $4 million to join the Obama administration; while still receiving millions in investment funds.

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Save the Internet: Stop Fast Track

Boing Boing

Evan from Fight for the Future writes, "Want to help save democracy?The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a super-secretive trade agreement that threatens everything you care about. It's been negotiated behind closed doors with ample input from over 600 corporate lobbyists -- but no access for journalists or the public. Sound bad? It gets worse. The corporate interest groups pushing for the TPP are the same folks that brought us SOPA, ACTA, and NAFTA."

No one knows exactly what's in the TPP, since it's shrouded in so much secrecy, but from leaked texts, we know that the it would lead to a more censored, policed, and expensive Internet -- and it would undermine important protections for workers rights, public health, and the environment. Over 80 organizations oppose Fast Track for the TPP. You can read why -- in their own words -- at StopFastTrack.com
 
Ready for the good news? The U.S. government needs Congress to pass a bill called "Fast Track" or that gives the President the ability to ratify trade agreements without meaningful debate or amendments from Congress. Without Fast Track, other countries won't be willing to agree to the extremist Internet-killing copyright policies that the U.S. is pushing, since they know that Congress could just amend any agreement they come to. If Fast Track fails, experts are saying that the whole TPP could likely fall apart, and that the worst pieces of it will almost certainly be off the table.

It's that simple. If we stop Fast Track, we stop the TPP. We need to melt phones, fill up inboxes, and raise our voices high to defend democracy and save the Internet. Here's the link, you know what to do.  

Secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP)

WikiLeaks
 
Today, 13 November 2013, WikiLeaks released the secret negotiated draft text for the entire TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) Intellectual Property Rights Chapter. The TPP is the largest-ever economic treaty, encompassing nations representing more than 40 per cent of the world’s GDP.  

The WikiLeaks release of the text comes ahead of the decisive TPP Chief Negotiators summit in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 19-24 November 2013. The chapter published by WikiLeaks is perhaps the most controversial chapter of the TPP due to its wide-ranging effects on medicines, publishers, internet services, civil liberties and biological patents. Significantly, the released text includes the negotiation positions and disagreements between all 12 prospective member states. 

The TPP is the forerunner to the equally secret US-EU pact TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), for which President Obama initiated US-EU negotiations in January 2013. Together, the TPP and TTIP will cover more than 60 per cent of global GDP. 

Read full press release here