Insider view on the "secret" TPP

[MFrohike]

40. Yeesh

On what basis could the country sue the company? The purpose of the ISDS is to recover lost or potentially lost profits. It makes no sense at all to claim the country could sue in that situation.

Binding arbitration is a different beast from the ISDS format. After all, one always has the right to appeal to a superior tribunal in arbitration, though that right may be limited. There is no such right in this format. There is no superior tribunal. That alone rips the heart out of your comparison. Should there be collusion between the arbitrators and one of the parties, there is literally no recourse for the other party. The purpose of the ISDS is to get around American courts' extreme dislike of trying to prove damages that are either speculative or are based on the legitimate exercise of power by the state.

You should ask Australia how well they're faring in the ISDS system. They're busy defending a suit of this type against Philip Morris over anti-smoking laws. That's the sort of thing this treaty is really designed to do. Hell, if you've ever read a tariff table, you'd know that traditional barriers to trade are nearly non-existent. All that's left is the traditional, legitimate functions of government. You know, what they call "non-tariff barriers."