Using the TPP to Renegotiate and Expand NAFTA [View all]

[Huey P. Long]

Canada’s entry into Trans-Pacific Partnership called “humiliating”
By Stuart Trew, Tuesday, June 26th, 2012


The United States Trade Representative (USTR) is “playing hardball,” he says, and “has brazenly stated that Canada and Mexico will not even be granted observer status at the July or September rounds. Presumably, they will not be granted access to the text either, until after the internal U.S. review period is over…

“This means that during the next two rounds, the nine current members will have the opportunity to reach consensus on areas where they know that Canada has sensitivities, notably agricultural market access, drug pricing, cultural industries, and copyright protection. It also means that U.S. lobbyists, representing everything from brand-name drugs, agricultural exports, motion pictures and softwood lumber, will have a free hand to try to insert their own poison pills ahead of Canada entry.”

Yesterday in the Toronto Star, Michael Geist of the University of Ottawa also commented that, “The price of admission [to the TPP] was steep — Canada appears to have agreed to conditions that grant it second-tier status — and the economic benefits from improved access to TPP economies are likely to be relatively minor since we already have free trade agreements with four of the 10 participants.” Geist and Sinclair both point out that Canada and Mexico, which were invited to the TPP table by U.S. President Obama during the G20 meeting last week, will not have the veto authority of the other nine TPP members to stop chapters from being closed. Geist offers a concrete example of how that might affect the copyright negotiations:

This condition could be used to stop Canada from joining forces with another country on a tough issue during the late stages of the negotiation. For example, Canada and New Zealand both have copyright terms that last for the life of the author plus an additional 50 years. The U.S. has proposed that the TPP mandate a term of life plus 70 years. While Canada and New Zealand might be able to jointly block the extension, the U.S. could pressure New Zealand to cave on the issue and effectively force Canada to accept the change.

Sinclair ends his article with a challenge to Canadians to reject the TPP negotiations outright:

In its desperate bid to be part of these talks, the Harper government has left Canadians with a clear choice — to take an agreement shoved down our throats by the U.S. and its powerful corporate lobbies or to leave it. Given the obvious costs, the only dignified option is clear.


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http://canadians.org/blog/?p=15908

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Will invitation to join TPP talks lead to NAFTA 2.0?
By Peter Clark | Jun 19, 2012

All Canadians should be clear about this – TPP is the negotiation of NAFTA 2.0 and it could have major implications for Canada-USA trade relations.

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http://www.ipolitics.ca/2012/06/19/peter-clark-will-invitation-to-join-tpp-talks-lead-to-nafta-2-0/