Trans Pacific Partnership: Obama ready to defy Democrats to push secretive trade deal

Thursday, January 22, 2015
By Paul Martin

The TPP has drawn the ire of Democrats including Elizabeth Warren who object it will destroy jobs, limit online freedom, increase outsourcing and derail climate agreements. Ironically, it has made allies of his GOP rivals

Siri Srinivas
GuardianUK
Tuesday 20 January 2015

The Trans Pacific Partnership is a trade agreement so significant and important, its details can’t be disclosed.

The TPP, sure to make an appearance during tonight’s State of the Union, is a 21st-century trade agreement involving 11 Asian countries along the Pacific Rim, and said to cover 40% of the world’s economy.

The TPP is a subject close to the heart – and the economic plans – of President Obama. In a November trip to Beijing, he urged other world leaders to finalize the agreement, calling it a “high priority” that would strengthen American leadership in the Asia-Pacific region and lead to growth, investment and job prospects for more workers.

The administration has argued that the deal will allow lower tariffs for American exports, in an environment of increasing competition, especially from China. Obama is also touting the deal as a boon for small businesses. When 98% of the US’s exporters are small businesses, new trade partnerships will help them create even more jobs, he proclaimed in last year’s State of the Union address. “Listen, China and Europe are not standing on the sidelines. Neither should we.”

Right now, American citizens will have to take those promises about the impact of the TPP on faith.

The TPP is one of the largest international trade agreements the US will sign, yet most of it is mired in secrecy. Congress won’t have access to the TPP before it is signed, and the terms won’t be publicly disclosed – ironic since the negotiations include 600 corporate advisers, including representatives of Halliburton and Caterpillar.

A chunk of the trade deal was leaked most recently by a Wikileaks release. “Everything we know about it are from document leaks,” says Maira Sutton, a policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The Rest…HERE

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