that stand in opposition to the TPP.
I'm not sure what argument of mine re higher tariffs you're referring to. I think, for good or for ill, placing high tariffs on products is a practice of bygone days. The issue is no longer about tariffs so much as it is about non-trade barriers.
Of course we shouldn't bury our heads in the sand regarding trade. And we haven't. Trade flows pretty damn freely across the globe. I agree that we should forge agreements that address the environment all over the world- and workers rights. FTAs, on balance, don't seem to have done that. The hazards are built into the agreements themselves; no matter what lip service you give the environment and labor rights, if corporations are increasingly given more power, and enforcement isn't given enough, you end up with an equation that spells damage to the environment and to labor. We've seen that all too often. Colombia re labor is a stark and tragic case study. When American corporations (or others in other trade agreements) team up with governments to terrorize and murder labor activists, as happen in Colombia, we take a significant step backward.
Yes, the leaked IP chapter contained provisions pushed by USTR negotiators that amounts to nothing more or less than protectionism, like extending drug patents through the dubious practice of "evergreening"- making slight shifts in how a drug is manufactured. It's ironic that trade which is supposed to be about breaking down barriers should raise them like this.
I find Friedman to be one of the shallowest public thinkers on the scene. I put down his cliche ridden "The World is Flat", in disgust. This is a big deal. The implications are enormous. Think about extending drug patents for a moment: It directly impacts whether people will be able to get affordable drugs as it pushes generics off the market. Or think about the implications for the internet or food safety or the health of the pacific ocean- of significant concern to environmental orgs who wrote about that in their analysis of the leaked Environment chapter.
Sorry to go on like this, hope I addressed your questions.
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