Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)

**barbaro** · 25-01-2014, 09:53 AM

Here is one angle. Anyone have more insight on this?

Trans-Pacific Partnership not good for Liberty
| US | Posted by Joshua Cook
January 23, 2014

Noam Chomsky recently told the Huffington Post that the Trans Pacific Partnership (or TPP) is a “neoliberal assault” to further corporate domination. While most of the author/activist’s basic assertions and concerns are correct, his focus on the corporate world is one aspect of this dangerous treaty. It’s not simply corporate power which would increase and become more centralized; it is all power.

It is true that the pact would benefit corporations in certain ways. High-wage American workers and Union members would face more direct competition from low-wage Malaysian, Vietnamese and Mexican workers because the Partnership would create a free trade zone with no tariffs or barriers. Manual labor would be sent abroad even more readily than it currently is.

The TPP would also eliminate American regulations and safeguards in the name of free trade. Environmental, consumer safety and animal welfare regulations are just some of those which would be dismantled to ensure free trade. Even labeling law would no longer be allowed – unless passed by the Partnership as a whole – because labels could sway consumer choices by identifying country of origin, either directly or indirectly.

Chomsky also notes that the treaty would give corporations a direct way to object to and even override individual countries’ democratically passed laws. An international tribunal would have the power to overrule individual nations’ legal standards and impose economic penalties. Corporations would be able to directly address the international tribunal in order to oppose individual countries’ regulations.

It is true that this benefits corporations, and that unregulated corporations with corrupt ties to the government are extremely problematic for any democratic society.

Chomsky’s focus on a single aspect of the problem, however. The fact that an international organization could override American (or Australian, or Canadian, or New Zealander) laws would mean that anyone who wanted to override the democratic process would have a venue to do so.

The ceding of American sovereignty to newly and secretively formed international bodies is an incredibly dangerous concept for many reasons. Noam Chomsky’s criticisms of the TPP are valid, and his concerns are very real. They only cover one aspect of probable corruption and reduction of American freedom, though.

Many progressives and libertarians are both fighting the TPP. They are trying to bring awareness to this dangerous treaty which is one of the most under reported issues in the media today.

Read more: Trans-Pacific Pact Negotiations Should Finish By Year
Follow us: @BenSwann_ on Twitter

**barbaro** · 30-01-2014, 02:11 PM

This could affect all of us.

**barbaro** · 30-01-2014, 02:17 PM

An informative interview with Noam Chomsky on TPP.

Note the term "kick away the ladder."

**bsnub** · 30-01-2014, 04:09 PM

Yes this is a sinister agreement and is just another evil move by the WTO. The WTO should be disbanded at once.

**Black Heart** · 22-04-2015, 09:23 AM

bsnub noted the TPP in Scott Walker thread.

The TPP is a reality and also coming to other nations.

Any more info and comments can come here. Will post more later.

**kingwilly** · 22-04-2015, 09:30 AM

Black Heart, are you Barbara ?

**bsnub** · 22-04-2015, 09:37 AM

^ Could be. She has been missing for some time..

**billy the kid** · 22-04-2015, 05:11 PM

can't open the vid in uk barbaro. shut it down.

**Horatio Hornblower** · 22-04-2015, 05:33 PM

**thaimeme** · 22-04-2015, 05:37 PM

Originally Posted by Horatio Hornblower

Damn Pinko-Liberals......stirring up trouble, per usual.

**Horatio Hornblower** · 22-04-2015, 05:38 PM

Secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) - Investment Chapter
WikiLeaks releases today the "Investment Chapter" from the secret negotiations of the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) agreement. The document adds to the previous WikiLeaks publications of the chapters for Intellectual Property Rights (November 2013) and the Environment (January 2014).

The TPP Investment Chapter, published today, is dated 20 January 2015. The document is classified and supposed to be kept secret for four years after the entry into force of the TPP agreement or, if no agreement is reached, for four years from the close of the negotiations.

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks editor said: "The TPP has developed in secret an unaccountable supranational court for multinationals to sue states. This system is a challenge to parliamentary and judicial sovereignty. Similar tribunals have already been shown to chill the adoption of sane environmental protection, public health and public transport policies."

Current TPP negotiation member states are the United States, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Chile, Singapore, Peru, Vietnam, New Zealand and Brunei. The TPP is the largest economic treaty in history, including countries that represent more than 40 per cent of the world´s GDP.

The Investment Chapter highlights the intent of the TPP negotiating parties, led by the United States, to increase the power of global corporations by creating a supra-national court, or tribunal, where foreign firms can "sue" states and obtain taxpayer compensation for "expected future profits". These investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) tribunals are designed to overrule the national court systems. ISDS tribunals introduce a mechanism by which multinational corporations can force governments to pay compensation if the tribunal states that a country's laws or policies affect the company's claimed future profits. In return, states hope that multinationals will invest more. Similar mechanisms have already been used. For example, US tobacco company Phillip Morris used one such tribunal to sue Australia (June 2011 – ongoing) for mandating plain packaging of tobacco products on public health grounds; and by the oil giant Chevron against Ecuador in an attempt to evade a multi-billion-dollar compensation ruling for polluting the environment. The threat of future lawsuits chilled environmental and other legislation in Canada after it was sued by pesticide companies in 2008/9. ISDS tribunals are often held in secret, have no appeal mechanism, do not subordinate themselves to human rights laws or the public interest, and have few means by which other affected parties can make representations.

The TPP negotiations have been ongoing in secrecy for five years and are now in their final stages. In the United States the Obama administration plans to "fast-track" the treaty through Congress without the ability of elected officials to discuss or vote on individual measures. This has met growing opposition as a result of increased public scrutiny following WikiLeaks' earlier releases of documents from the negotiations.

The TPP is set to be the forerunner to an equally secret agreement between the US and EU, the TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership).

Negotiations for the TTIP were initiated by the Obama administration in January 2013. Combined, the TPP and TTIP will cover more than 60 per cent of global GDP. The third treaty of the same kind, also negotiated in secrecy is TISA, on trade in services, including the financial and health sectors. It covers 50 countries, including the US and all EU countries. WikiLeaks released the secret draft text of the TISA's financial annex in June 2014.

All these agreements on so-called “free trade” are negotiated outside the World Trade Organization's (WTO) framework. Conspicuously absent from the countries involved in these agreements are the BRICs countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Read the Secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) - Investment chapter

https://wikileaks.org/tpp-investment/press.html

**billy the kid** · 22-04-2015, 06:06 PM

cheers HH.

that is scary.

**billy the kid** · 24-04-2015, 03:10 AM

heard something today saying Obama wants it fast tracked.

**Black Heart** · 06-05-2015, 06:32 AM

It's coming, and as it always has been - it's secret.

Extreme secrecy eroding support for Obama's trade pact
Classified briefings and bill-readings in basement rooms are making members queasy.
By Edward-Isaac Dovere
5/4/15

If you want to hear the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal the Obama administration is hoping to pass, you’ve got to be a member of Congress, and you’ve got to go to classified briefings and leave your staff and cellphone at the door.

If you’re a member who wants to read the text, you’ve got to go to a room in the basement of the Capitol Visitor Center and be handed it one section at a time, watched over as you read, and forced to hand over any notes you make before leaving.

And no matter what, you can’t discuss the details of what you’ve read.

Read more: Extreme secrecy eroding support for Obama's trade pact - Edward-Isaac Dovere - POLITICO

**Latindancer** · 06-05-2015, 07:04 AM

Originally Posted by Black Heart

If you’re a member who wants to read the text, you’ve got to go to a room in the basement of the Capitol Visitor Center and be handed it one section at a time, watched over as you read, and forced to hand over any notes you make before leaving.

What do they do if you have an eidetic memory ? Give you shock therapy before they let you go ?

**Boon Mee** · 13-05-2015, 07:09 AM

Senate Democrats Just Threw Obama Under The Bus, Blocking Fast Track Authority On Trade

Legislation giving U.S. President Barack Obama authority to speed trade deals through Congress failed a crucial procedural test on Tuesday, delaying a measure that may be key to President Barack Obama’s diplomatic pivot to Asia.

In a setback to the White House trade agenda, the Senate voted 52-45 – eight votes short of the necessary 60 – to clear the way for debate on the legislation, which would allow a quick decision on granting the president so-called fast track authority to move trade deals quickly through Congress.

The vote marked a big victory for Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, an outspoken opponent of fast-track."

Senate Democrats are blocking Obama's Pacific trade bill - Business Insider

Heh...love it when the Democrats throw their own man under the bus!

**bsnub** · 13-05-2015, 07:55 AM

^ That is a good thing Obama is on the wrong side in this fight.

**OhOh** · 13-05-2015, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

to clear the way for debate on the legislation,

What more meaningful item is now on the debating calendar instead?

**Boon Mee** · 13-05-2015, 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by OhOh

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

to clear the way for debate on the legislation,

What more meaningful item is now on the debating calendar instead?

Whether they should give themselves a 15 or 20% pay rise immediately?

**OhOh** · 13-05-2015, 11:01 AM

The blame is already being apportioned.

Hatch: 11th Hour Demands from Democrats Leave Americans without a Voice on Trade

"In the future, if we see a sharp decline in U.S. agriculture and manufacturing, and if the U.S. retreats from the world, ceding the Asia-Pacific region in particular to China’s overwhelming economic influence, people may very well look back at today’s events wonder why we couldn’t get our act together. "

Too late man, ask your manufacturers, farmers, unemployed or "not in the workplace" millions

**Cujo** · 13-05-2015, 11:47 AM

ISDS tribunals introduce a mechanism by which multinational corporations can force governments to pay compensation if the tribunal states that a country's laws or policies affect the company's claimed future profits. In return, states hope that multinationals will invest more. Similar mechanisms have already been used. For example, US tobacco company Phillip Morris used one such tribunal to sue Australia (June 2011 – ongoing) for mandating plain packaging of tobacco products on public health grounds; and by the oil giant Chevron against Ecuador in an attempt to evade a multi-billion-dollar compensation ruling for polluting the environment.

That's very scary.
What if Phillip Morris successfully sues Australia and Australia says 'fuck you, it's out country our laws, you're banned from doing business in Australia'.
Won't that upset Phillip Morris?

**OhOh** · 13-05-2015, 12:54 PM

WORDS, WAR AND WASTELAND, in that order, is the usual SOP.

**harrybarracuda** · 13-05-2015, 01:24 PM

Originally Posted by Koojo

ISDS tribunals introduce a mechanism by which multinational corporations can force governments to pay compensation if the tribunal states that a country's laws or policies affect the company's claimed future profits. In return, states hope that multinationals will invest more. Similar mechanisms have already been used. For example, US tobacco company Phillip Morris used one such tribunal to sue Australia (June 2011 – ongoing) for mandating plain packaging of tobacco products on public health grounds; and by the oil giant Chevron against Ecuador in an attempt to evade a multi-billion-dollar compensation ruling for polluting the environment.

That's very scary.
What if Phillip Morris successfully sues Australia and Australia says 'fuck you, it's out country our laws, you're banned from doing business in Australia'.
Won't that upset Phillip Morris?

Yes but I think the point is that if they did that, a partnership agreement might mean that all pacific partners cease trading with them or some other sanction might get applied.

It fucking stinks frankly.

**PlanK** · 13-05-2015, 01:35 PM

It's almost laughable that the Americans think they're getting a bad deal here. Finally they can push their silly copyright/patent/advertising laws all round the Pacific using their legal might all the while saying they will lower tariffs and barriers but still having government subsidies keeping competitively priced imports out of the market.

I hope the other nations are bargaining hard.

**harrybarracuda** · 13-05-2015, 02:54 PM

Originally Posted by Plan B

It's almost laughable that the Americans think they're getting a bad deal here. Finally they can push their silly copyright/patent/advertising laws all round the Pacific using their legal might all the while saying they will lower tariffs and barriers but still having government subsidies keeping competitively priced imports out of the market.

I hope the other nations are bargaining hard.

An interesting point of view but I think as far as subsidies are concerned it will be the other way round.

Americans now have an insatiable appetite for cheap foreign shit.

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