Wikileaks Says Secretive Trade Agreement Paves Way to ‘Corporatization of Public Services’ Soon [View all]

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Last edited Sun May 29, 2016, 12:22 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: Vice

WikiLeaks has released a thousands of documents that critics of free trade said shows how officials negotiating the Trade in Services Agreement, or TiSA, could force privatization on public institutions around the world.

The most surprising revelations in the WikiLeaks documents released this week involve state-owned enterprises, or SOEs — government-owned corporations that often operate like private businesses but pursue public goals, experts said.

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"We want trading rules that set up a level playing field," Drake said, adding that the AFL-CIO hadn't yet taken an official position on the deal. "It's not level if one country is providing subsidies to allegedly 'private enterprises' that other countries are not providing because it is against the rules. That's one of the threats from China: that it is using public monies to subsidize state-controlled businesses so they can behave in a predatory manner and destroy US jobs."

Read more: https://news.vice.com/article/wikileaks-says-secretive-trade-agreement-paves-way-to-corporatization-of-public-services

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Deal will set up a level playing field for foreign corporations and their workforces.

Plan is expected to lower costs for business by globalizing services, including staffing.

Non-immigrant visas are all that are needed because workers are only in a country temporarily, for no more than a few years so it is treated like an intra-corporate transfer.


Services are 70% of all jobs.

"Everything you cannot drop on your foot"


Deal has been 10 years in the making, 22 if you include its predecessor, "GATS".


In keeping with the GATS goals, Education, Healthcare and all other public services except services supplied in the exercise of governmental authority must be privatized, monetized and globalized.

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"For the purposes of this Agreement…

(b) 'services' includes any service in any sector except services supplied in the exercise of governmental authority;

(c) 'a service supplied in the exercise of governmental authority' means any service which is supplied neither on a commercial basis, nor in competition with one or more service suppliers."

See also:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/India-drags-US-to-WTO-over-new-visa-cap-higher-fees/articleshow/51263331.cms

http://www.iatp.org/files/GATS_and_Public_Service_Systems.htm

http://ttip2015.eu/files/content/docs/Full%20documents/factsheet_tisa_and_financial_services.pdf

https://wikileaks.org/tisa/financial/04-2015/analysis/Analysis-TiSA-Financial-Services-Annex.pdf

EDIT: I think TiSA will result in ACA having to be rolled back to 1994 or 1998 levels (meaning all parts that aversely effect profits would have to be eliminated - completely eliminated. )

once the healthcare services become international trade they become WTO jurisdiction, , All regulations in the covered service sector after 1994 or 1998 would be rolled back, if the WTO is petitioned to do that by a financial services providing nation.

See the above video on Democracy Now for more on how that would work, also see this ISDS lawsuit between Dutch insurer and Clinton donor Achmea and the Slovak Republic.