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Faryn Balyncd

(5,125 posts)
Fri Apr 24, 2015, 05:22 PM Apr 2015

Newsweek: "The TPP:An Alliance of Money Over Guns"




The Trans-Pacific Partnership: An Alliance of Money Over Guns

By Matthew Cooper 4/24/15

A policewoman removes a man protesting the Trans-Pacific Partnership as U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman testifies before a Senate Finance Committee hearing in Washington. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters


. . . the TPP promises to be one of Washington’s most contentious fights during this Congress. But in an unusual way. Most business interests, Republicans and the Obama administration back the agreement, while virtually all of organized labor, most Democrats and environmental groups oppose it. The arguments about whether the pact is a job destroyer or a job creator echo the debate over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) forged by the U.S., Canada and Mexico in the 1990s —an argument that continues decades after it passed.

But the TPP is a much bigger deal not only because it has the potential to rewrite American rules about labor and environmental standards, intellectual property rights and other important aspects of the American economy, but also because the countries involved make it nothing short of a major international economic alliance. . .

. . . .the treaty has not been made public, although draft sections have been leaked. But the goal has been to remove regulatory obstacles to trade. For instance, a leaked chapter appears to show that the agreement would give greater patent protection to pharmaceutical manufacturers, perhaps at the expense of consumers. The specifics of what it would do to, say, lower barriers for financial services or insurance or auto companies remain unclear, but they will be significant. The various components of the agreement will touch on everything from food safety to cybersecurity.

Opponents of the agreement have decried the secrecy involved in its formation, but the Obama administration has likened it to any treaty negotiation that requires privacy until final wording is agreed upon. The deal is different from other trade agreements in that it doesn’t pertain to tariff rates. And it doesn’t have a mechanism for dealing with so-called currency manipulation—a major issue in the U.S.-China relationship. It’s more about what’s called “harmonizing” other aspects of international trade. . . .


http://www.newsweek.com/trans-pacific-partnership-trade-united-states-china-nafta-324630?piano_d=1















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