A Trade Rule that Makes It Illegal to Favor Local Business? Newest Leak Shows TPP Would Do That ....

[marmar]

from YES! Magazine:


A Trade Rule that Makes It Illegal to Favor Local Business? Newest Leak Shows TPP Would Do That And More
The leaked text is full of dense legal jargon. But a close reading makes its corporate agenda crystal clear.

David Korten posted Apr 15, 2015


Secret negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade and investment agreement involving 12 nations of the Pacific Rim, are coming to a close, and President Barack Obama will soon submit the final agreement to the U.S. Congress for approval.

Presumably, he will urge the deal’s passage with the same unsubstantiated and misleading claims his administration has offered all along: that the TPP will support Made-in-America exports, enforce fundamental labor rights, promote strong environmental protection, and help small business.

But a newly leaked document belies those claims. The Trans-Pacific Partnership’s text consists of a number of chapters, among the most important of which is the one on investments. On March 25, WikiLeaks released a confidential draft of that chapter dated January 20. The draft contains instructions indicating that it will be declassified only “Four years from entry into force … or, if no agreement enters into force, four years from the close of the negotiations.”

A quick reading of the leaked chapter makes it clear why TPP sponsors have gone to great lengths to keep their negotiations secret. The document substantiates claims by opponents that the TPP is a corporate-rights agreement designed to facilitate the export of U.S. jobs, allow corporations to sue governments for enacting labor and environmental protections, make it illegal for governments to favor local businesses, and advance the colonization of national economies by global corporations and financiers. ...........(more)

http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/trade-rule-illegal-favor-local-business-tpp-leak-wikileaks

[marmar]

1. Shameless self-kick

[2naSalit]

5. I love that song!!

and I miss INXS.

[Trajan]

2. Let me shamelessly K and R ...

This is the worst plan I have ever seen ... The plight of working families will be exacerbated to the extreme by this agreement ...

Why do they inflame us like this? ... fucking crazy bastards ....

[JEB]

3. K&R

Yes magazine is excellent.

[Enthusiast]

4. Kicked and recommended a whole bunch! Just what we need, another devastating trade deal.

Fast Track authority for the TPP is a measure of our democracy.

The people aren't even allowed to see what is in it. It is written in secret by corporations that have proven to be irresponsible corporate citizens.

If the fucking thing passes we can consider democracy in the USA as good as dead.

[2naSalit]

6. K&R and...

Thanks!

[Populist_Prole]

7. .....Annnnd another bump!

( and recommend )

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

8. UGH. At least the rank and file would know not to trust

a republican administration.

This just sucks, and makes me so damn angry. I've been trying to warn people about it, but - not to worry - Obama has our backs!
UGH

[GoneFishin]

9. Any scheme a corporation has for hugely increased profits but which they cannot implement

because of some law will become the basis for a lawsuit for damages in which the U.S. tax payer can be forced to pay the awarded judgement.

The lawsuit, however, will not be presided over by a judge or jury, but rather by a tribunal of corporate lawyers who take turns pretending to be the plaintiffs some of the time, and pretending to be the judges at other times.

[pampango]

10. Obama's trade rep says no: "There are a lot of myths suggesting that TPP would overturn or undermine

our ability to buy American or even prevent states and local governments from implementing their own procurement processes. These assertions are incorrect.

There is nothing in TPP that will ban federal, state, or local governments from buying American. In fact, under TPP we are working to ensure that more countries around the world have the ability to buy American in order to help support jobs here at home. TPP will tear down barriers in other countries to create opportunities for our workers in fast-growing markets where governments are significant buyers of goods and services."

https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/blog/2014/july/facts-about-government-procurement-and-tpp-tpp-promotes-buying

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

11. And why is the whole damn thing a secret?

Why must we wait years for the agreement to be released?

[pampango]

12. Why are the Iranian negotiations secret? Why were the Cuba negotiations secret?

Why must we wait years for the agreement to be released?

At this point there is no 'agreement' to release.

We could release the negotiating documents that all sides are using but that seems to rarely happen in international negotiations. I suppose republicans would love to do just that in an effort to torpedo the Iranian and Cuban negotiations.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

13. These are LAWS that will affect us - American citizens

All documents should be made available so the American citizenry can make their voices heard.

[pampango]

16. International negotiations are not US laws.

International negotiations often lead to international treaties or agreements which do indeed affect all of us. Other times negotiations fall apart and never result in an agreement.

The diplomatic agreement with Cuba was negotiated in secret. Assuming republicans are not able to dismantle it, the agreement will eventually lead to laws governing travel to and trade with Cuba. Those laws, when they are proposed, should be available to all of us.

Historically that has not meant that international negotiations are open to the pubic. If an agreement is reached and submitted for ratification that should of course be available to all of us.

[ronnie624]

15. "TPP will tear down barriers in other countries"

If the provisions of the TPP are applied equally to all signatories, will it not "tear down barriers" here, in the US, as well? I would like to know more about these "barriers".

[pampango]

18. Given the imbalance in trade, our 'barriers' are small compared to those of other countries.

Lowering barriers and increasing trade would have to go a long way to equal the levels of trade in European countries. Of course, without Europe's high/progressive taxes, strong unions and effective safety nets increasing or decreasing trade won't help our middle class much.

[stillwaiting]

19. Well, the free trade agreement with S. Korea certainly hasn't been working out too well so far.

https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5800.html

The imbalance is growing from year (2012) to year (2013) to year (2014) to year (2015). The 2015 numbers for Jan. and Feb. seem to indicate another huge increase in our trade deficit with Korea.

[ronnie624]

20. The first barriers to profit that I think of

that the wealthy want to eliminate, are labor and environmental regulations.

[pa28]

14. Another nail in the coffin of American small business.

Don't need it.

[jwirr]

17. I contacted both my Senators and got a generic answer from Amy and none from Al. We are

strong union up here though so I have hopes that they and Ryan Nolan will not support this.