We need to talk, readers. More specifically: We need to talk about what could potentially be the biggest trade deal to go down in history, involving 40 percent of the world’s economy; the Trans-Pacific Partnership. We need to talk because not enough people are talking.
Oh, I know, I know. I already I hear the groans and the snores. Look, I get that this sounds mind-numbly boring and unsexy—because it is.
But after slurping ungodly amounts of coffee and expending more psychic energy than I want to admit trawling through TPP documents, articles and analysis, one thing became clear: If passed, this trade deal will have major and direct effects on all of our lives.
Need more reasons to care? It will affect the environment, 800 million people worldwide, our children, our grandchildren and maybe even our great-grandchildren. With so much at stake, the mainstream media has been strangely hush-hush on the subject.
In February, Media Matters put out a study showing that in the previous 18 months ABC, NBC and CBS had not mentioned the TPP once in their nightly news broadcasts. Only PBS’s “NewsHour” offered substantial coverage of the historic trade deal.
So without further ado, here are the need-to-know specs and speculations surrounding the TPP all boiled down for your reading convenience.
What is the TPP?
It is not an acronym for toilet paper. The TPP is a free trade agreement involving 12 nations, mostly concentrated in and around the Pacific Rim. Ostensibly, its main objective is to eliminate taxes imposed on imported goods and services, otherwise known as tariffs, and to facilitate trade between the countries entering into the agreement.
However, of the 29 chapters in the TPP, only five deal with trade. Other chapters involve intellectual-property law and financial regulations.
What countries are involved?
Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the U.S.
Is this the first time we’ve entered into a free trade agreement?
Nope. Previous trade agreements we’ve been involved in include the North America Free Trade Agreement and the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
Okay, so where can I get a copy of this TPP?
Unless you’re part of an exclusive contingent of corporate executives, union leaders or government negotiators given express permission to view the 1,200-plus-page document, you’re out of luck, chump.
And even then, the TPP is being held under tight wraps. The drafting of the TPP has been conducted under the rose, and the document itself is classified.
Senator Barbra Boxer has complained about the strict restrictions placed on viewing the document. Namely, that she was only allowed to take along a limited number of staffers who had security clearance. Keep in mind Congress members often rely on staffers’ expertise to decipher jargony texts. She also said she had to give up any handwritten notes to guards upon exiting the viewing area.
Critics have argued these security measures don’t allow our representatives to do their job and analyze the trade agreement properly. Also, without public input, it’s only the interests of the privileged few who have a chair at the table—aka multi-national corporations and union leaders—that will shape the final agreement.
Defenders of the secrecy have said that confidentiality in any multi-national trade agreement is vital because deals are still being hashed out. Making drafts public, they say, would be akin to revealing your hand in a poker game.
So, will I ever get to see this thing?
Once finalized, the trade agreement will be made public for 60 days before the president signs it on the nation’s behalf. Then it will go to Congress, which recently passed a fast-track bill—something the Obama administration and corporate lobbyists have been pushing for—meaning Congress won’t be able to amend the agreement and will only be able to cast an up-or-down vote on the TPP.
Furthermore, legislators will have 88 seconds apiece to debate the complex, tome-like document. The average person can hold their breath longer than that.
Okay, so what’s at stake here?
Because the entire document has still not seen the day of light, there is no way to know for certain what all is contained in the TPP. However, partial working drafts of the document have been leaked as recently as Aug. 5. From these leaks and from what we know of previous free trade agreements, we can make pretty educated guesses of at least some of the TPP’s provisions.
Proponents of the TPP say it will:
- Stop China from dominating trade in the Pacific Rim region and further U.S. interests, according to the Obama administration.
- Improve the economies of impoverished nations such as Vietnam, according to the Peterson Institute.
- Add $223 billion a year to incomes of workers in all the countries, with $77 billion of that going to U.S. workers, according to the Obama administration.
- Increase the U.S.’s GDP and exports, according to the Brookings Institute.
Critics of the TPP say it will:
- Increase income inequality because gains in income would go to those making $88,000 or more, according to Public Citizen.
- Further restrict fair use and expand copyright laws, according to a TPP draft leaked by Wikileaks earlier this year. This has the potential to put a chokehold on innovation in the arts, sciences and beyond.
- Increase dirty fracking and cause “increased stress on natural resources and species including trees, fish and wildlife,” according to the Sierra Club.
- Extend the duration of patents, which according to the New England Journal of Medicine could threaten millions of lives around the world by reducing access to cheap, life-saving generic drugs.
- Expand the power of corporations by allowing them to sue sovereign nations in private courts over environmental, health or any other laws that may undermine their profits, according to a TPP draft leaked by Wikileaks earlier this year.
- Make it easier for corporations to offshore domestic jobs. According to The Economic Policy Institute, the U.S. will lose more than 130,000 jobs to Vietnam and Japan alone if the deal is passed.
- Ignore human rights violations. Recently, the State Department upgraded Malaysia to Tier 3 status in human trafficking, which allows them to trade with the U.S. This seems a bit fishy considering the ongoing negotiations. “The obvious implication is that Malaysia is being upgraded to speed passage of the TPP,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.
The main thrust here is that the TPP will cause wide-ranging, big picture-type changes. Some of this is hard to grasp, but I’m telling you, it’s important stuff. The mainstream media seems set on ignoring the topic, even though there are many groups coming out and speaking for or against it. Just remember, Congress will still get to vote yay or nay on the deal, so get on it, read up and start talking people about the TPP.