Don't Buy the Hype: 20 Years of Data Reveals 'Free Trade' Fallacies

[Overseas]

15. K&R. The promoters pretended NAFTA and the others would be good for us back then too.

Those who opposed those agreements were mocked as being old fashioned, not understanding the benefits of Free Trade.

Those who benefited were the multinational corporations who were free to move production to wherever they could get the cheapest labor, regardless of the devastating impact here in the USA.

Now that we have the results of NAFTA CAFTA and other such agreements are quite clear, the TPP negotiations and content has been kept as secret as possible.

If such agreements had been successful for our country, the secrecy would not be necessary.

Because the TPP goes even farther and gives multinational corporations even more power over local governments and national legislation.

http://www.citizen.org/TPP

Although it is called a "free trade" agreement, the TPP is not mainly about trade. Of TPP's 29 draft chapters, only five deal with traditional trade issues. One chapter would provide incentives to offshore jobs to low-wage countries. Many would impose limits on government policies that we rely on in our daily lives for safe food, a clean environment, and more. Our domestic federal, state and local policies would be required to comply with TPP rules.

The TPP would even elevate individual foreign firms to equal status with sovereign nations, empowering them to privately enforce new rights and privileges, provided by the pact, by dragging governments to foreign tribunals to challenge public interest policies that they claim frustrate their expectations. The tribunals would be authorized to order taxpayer compensation to the foreign corporations for the "expected future profits" they surmise would be inhibited by the challenged policies.

We only know about the TPP's threats thanks to leaks – the public is not allowed to see the draft TPP text. Even members of Congress, after being denied the text for years, are now only provided limited access. Meanwhile, more than 500 official corporate "trade advisors" have special access. The TPP has been under negotiation for six years, and the Obama administration wants to sign the deal this year. Opposition to the TPP is growing at home and in many of the other countries involved.