{"id":64975,"date":"2015-10-12T12:00:08","date_gmt":"2015-10-12T11:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=64975"},"modified":"2015-10-12T07:59:27","modified_gmt":"2015-10-12T06:59:27","slug":"tpp-or-not-tpp-whats-the-trans-pacific-partnership-and-should-we-support-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2015\/10\/tpp-or-not-tpp-whats-the-trans-pacific-partnership-and-should-we-support-it\/","title":{"rendered":"TPP or Not TPP? What’s the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Should We Support It?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twelve Pacific rim countries have signed a sweeping trade deal but will it cut red tape and boost commerce or is it a sellout to big business that will cost jobs?<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Protesters<\/a>

Protesters opposed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations held two rallies and marches in Atlanta where the talks were being held in the Westin Hotel. Photograph: Steve Eberhardt\/Demotix\/Corbis<\/p><\/div>\n

5 Oct 2015 – <\/em>Close to a decade in the making, the most important trade pact in a generation moved closer to becoming a reality<\/a> on Monday.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the alphabet soup of acronyms and the byzantine path the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has taken, and the secrecy in which talks have been conducted, many people have ignored the pact. But as a deal gets closer to being sealed, tempers are fraying and the TPP is set to make its way up the news agenda. Here\u2019s your guide through the maze \u2013 what we can see of it anyway.<\/p>\n

So we have a deal. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, at least the beginning of a deal.<\/p>\n

In a final round of negotiations, Pacific trade ministers from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam reached the widest-ranging trade deal in a generation, covering everything from pharmaceuticals and banking to milk. The terms of the agreement will now have to be approved by each of the TPP countries.<\/p>\n

Who is missing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The notable exception is China. In part, the deal is meant to tackle China\u2019s dominance in the region. China has its own trade plans under discussion but could one day be part of the TPP.<\/p>\n

Will the US sign off?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It should do \u2013 although the effort won\u2019t be without friction. Hoping to avoid a long, drawn-out fight over the TPP, Obama asked the US Congress to give him Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) to negotiate the trade agreement. TPA gives Congress the ability to review and vote for or against a final trade agreement, but they are not able to amend it or filibuster. Getting the TPA through Congress wasn\u2019t easy, but after weeks of back and forth the bill was finally passed in late June<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Who is against this trade deal?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Among those speaking out against the agreement are unions, workers\u2019 rights groups and environmentalists, all of whom have traditionally been Obama supporters. Many in the president\u2019s own party \u2013 including senators Bernie Sanders<\/a> and Elizabeth Warren \u2013 oppose the trade deal. Free speech advocates and financial reformers are also worried about the deal. Warren is specifically afraid that if it is passed, a future president could use the TPP to change regulations like Dodd-Frank<\/a> that are meant to safeguard US investors.<\/p>\n

In a statement issued on Monday, Sanders said that he is \u201cdisappointed but not surprised by the decision to move forward on the disastrous Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement that will hurt consumers and cost American jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWall Street and other big corporations have won again. It is time for the rest of us to stop letting multinational corporations rig the system to pad their profits at our expense,\u201d he said. He added that this agreement was akin to failed trade deals with Mexico and China which cost the US millions of jobs and vowed to do what he could to defeat the agreement in Congress.<\/p>\n

Who supports the agreement?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Big businesses like Nike \u2013 from whose headquarters Obama controversially<\/a> chose to shill for the deal \u2013 support the agreement because it would reduce the tariffs on the shoes they produce overseas and then ship to the US. (Right now 98% of shoes in the US are imported.) They also argue free trade will benefit US companies and create more jobs at home. The deal would clarify trade rules that currently ensnare businesses large and small in red tape and would arguably make trading in the Pacific rim far easier.<\/p>\n

Did the corporations lobby for passage of the deal? <\/strong><\/p>\n

They sure did. An analysis of Federal Election Commission data showed that corporate members of the US Business Coalition for TPP<\/a> donated more than $1m to members of US Senate campaigns between January and March of this year, when fast-tracking the TPP was being debated.<\/p>\n

Here is what that analysis found<\/a>:<\/p>\n