U.S. negotiators need to close the TPP before detractors and competitors bury it.
Just a window into the mind of the shitstick supporters
-Pacific Partnership: Time for Some American Hustle
Courtship is tricky enough between two people. Imagine trying to negotiate a prenuptial agreement with ten suitors, while children cause strife at home. This is the conundrum faced by the Obama administration, which now faces significant international and domestic opposition to two major trade initiatives: the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and the Transatlantic Economic and Trade Pact (ETP). Both are still in negotiation, but it is not too early to distinguish their relative merits. The TPP is more advantageous given the growing importance of the Asia-Pacific, the declining fortunes of Europe, and the problematic nature of EU regulation. Meanwhile, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is gathering steam in Asia, led by China. Unless the White House puts Europe on the back-burner to focus on Asia, President Barack Obama will leave office having failed to significantly advance American interests in free trade. He needs to put his shoulder behind a swift ratification of the TPP.
Politics in Washington has become a zero-sum game, and the successful conclusion of any free trade agreement with the United States can only be reached with the support of both houses of Congress. Such agreements are also subject to the domestic political consensus of signatory countries. As a result, the ratification of such agreements requires lengthy negotiation, and the expenditure of considerable political capital. The concurrent pursuit of two major trade agreements will probably result in the failure of both.
The TPP would more profitably link the U.S. to dynamic economies of the Asia-Pacific; including Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, Mexico and Canada. These nations have a combined GDP of over $11 trillion (excluding the United States). This is still somewhat less than the European Union. However, other factors make TPP nations more appealing to U.S. economic interests.
<snip>
One such issue likely to be addressed by the TPP is the protection of U.S. intellectual property. The requirement for “adequate and effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights” was clearly enunciated in Article 1.1 of the TPP Main Agreement. Indeed, the TPP is reported to establish binding rules on everything from service-sector regulation, investment, patents and copyrights, government procurement, financial regulation, and labor and environmental standards, as well as trade in industrial goods and agriculture. Action across all of these issues is more urgent among the developing countries of the Asia-Pacific than in the prosperous EU.
<snip>
http://thediplomat.com/2014/03/trans-pacific-partnership-time-for-some-american-hustle/
= new reply since forum marked as read
?crop=67px%2C0px%2C1398px%2C933px&resize=1100%2C734