Politics Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement

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http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.co...-of-globalization/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

On the Wrong Side of Globalization


Controversy has erupted, and justifiably so. Based on the leaks — and the history of arrangements in past trade pacts — it is easy to infer the shape of the whole TPP, and it doesn’t look good. There is a real risk that it will benefit the wealthiest sliver of the American and global elite at the expense of everyone else. The fact that such a plan is under consideration at all is testament to how deeply inequality reverberates through our economic policies.

Worse, agreements like the TPP are only one aspect of a larger problem: our gross mismanagement of globalization.
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http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.co...-of-globalization/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
 
Some recent news:

http://southeastagnet.com/2014/05/28/statement-on-tpp-negotiations/
http://www.farms.com/ag-industry-ne...from-ag-groups-over-tpp-negotiations-999.aspx
Peter Martin in the SMH: http://www.smh.com.au/business/exwto-chief-tips-pacts-are-on-the-way-out-20140527-392fq.html
Elizabeth Warren pushing for release: http://www.thenation.com/blog/179885/elizabeth-warren-reveals-inside-details-trade-talks#
1.8 million strong signature: http://350.org.au/1-8-million-people-say-no-to-the-trans-pacific-partnership/

From the Wall Street Journal: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2014/05/23/will-the-tpp-go-the-way-of-the-wtos-doha-round/
After 13 years, the World Trade Organization’s Doha round of talks has failed to secure a comprehensive deal and reached just one modest agreement–on trade facilitation–last December.

Negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a U.S.-led initiative to create a free trade zone among 12 Pacific Rim nations, are now in their fifth year. A few deadlines have been missed, spawning skepticism about an eventual deal.

Will the TPP meet the same fate as the Doha talks?

“There’s always a risk, but I think all the countries are working very hard to get it settled this year,” Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in Tokyo Thursday.
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samFFC said:
Also, tweet from the US Trade Representative Froman:



Not sure if this is misguided optimism.
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I suspect it is. Recent momentum? Well I suppose going nowhere is technically better then going backwards.

The TPP pretty heavily favours the US. The problem is the US does not have the political or economic clout it used too. We have already had the sillyness when companies using obscure trade clauses to sue over cigarette plain packaging I doubt we will be too keen on that again.

Basically Australia doesn't really need too many things from the US and the things we do want (military, technology) won't be included in any discussions.

Just let it die.
 
Max zero said:
I suspect it is. Recent momentum? Well I suppose going nowhere is technically better then going backwards.

The TPP pretty heavily favours the US. The problem is the US does not have the political or economic clout it used too. We have already had the sillyness when companies using obscure trade clauses to sue over cigarette plain packaging I doubt we will be too keen on that again.

Basically Australia doesn't really need too many things from the US and the things we do want (military, technology) won't be included in any discussions.

Just let it die.
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I'd be very happy for that to be the case! Unfortunately, the US is definitely not, and I would hazard a guess that it will eventually get up. We need to negotiate the best deal we can, in the likelihood it is eventually concluded.
 
Max zero said:
Would be nice to actually be able to read the agreement before it gets signed.
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I agree.

However, we are subject to maximum secrecy and executive discretion. Much like the past US-Aus free trade agreement, a government rushing to pass stipulations into law, is bound to be shorted by US interest, because unlike Australia, each and every point is open to negotiation and requires congressional approval which is slow and often rarely forthcoming.

Much like the Japan agreement we will be sold down the river. The thing is, the TPP does not open up new markets or remove trade barrirs, in fact given leaks it is a misnomer to call it an FTA.

Largely it is about protecting and enforcing a corporate rights regime, over that of the public.
 
Gough said:
A question to those who are a little bit more up to speed on this than I; does a future Australian government have the abilty to withdraw us from this agreement?
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Sydney Bloods said:
technically yes, reality be smacked with fines for doing so. reject such fines then probably face tariffs and sanctions.
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Technically yes - in practice no, as the cost would be enormous as every TNC impacted by any government change could take Australia to an International "arbitration" court (with the panels normally drawn from a legal pool of people representing other TNCs!) and force us to pay compensation for each and every change.
 

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http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2013/s3891114.htm

"ANDREW ROBB STATEMENT (Voiceover): The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is an integral part of Australia's health system and the Government will not permit any outcome in its trade negotiations which undermines the PBS or Australia's health system more generally."
 
Hmm.
https_www_dfat_gov_au_fta_tpp_faq_html.png


via DFAT website.
 
"Economists, lawyers and healthcare experts say the documents show Australia's opposition has been notably weak"

Weak is an understatement
Government response has been deafening and what about Labour ? No better...

Maybe I am overly pessimistic about the current state of Australia and where it appears to be heading to me, but this issue is going to be such a kick in the guts for anyone still holding onto the concept of democracy. The Left/Right paradigm has become completely redundant

Why is there hardly anyone talking about this either ? This is massive.......
 
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http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/opinion/dont-trade-away-our-health.html?referrer=
Don't Trade Away Our Health
By JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ
JANUARY 30, 2015
A secretive group met behind closed doors in New York this week. What they decided may lead to higher drug prices for you and hundreds of millions around the world.

Representatives from the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries convened to decide the future of their trade relations in the so-called Trans-Pacific Partnership (T.P.P.). Powerful companies appear to have been given influence over the proceedings, even as full access is withheld from many government officials from the partnership countries.


Trade agreements are negotiated by the office of the United States Trade Representative, supposedly on behalf of the American people. Historically, though, the trade representative’s office has aligned itself with corporate interests. If big pharmaceutical companies hold sway — as the leaked documents indicate they do — the T.P.P. could block cheaper generic drugs from the market. Big Pharma’s profits would rise, at the expense of the health of patients and the budgets of consumers and governments.

There are two ways the office of the trade representative can use the T.P.P. to maintain or raise drug prices and profits.

The first is to restrict competition from generics. It’s axiomatic that more competition means lower prices. When companies have to fight for customers, they end up cutting their prices. When a patent expires, any company can enter the market with a generic version of a drug. The differences in prices between brand-name and generic drugs are mind- and budget-blowing. Just the availability of generics drives prices down: In generics-friendly India, for example, Gilead Sciences, which makes an effective hepatitis-C drug, recently announced that it would sell the drug for a little more than 1 percent of the $84,000 it charges here.

That’s why, since the United States opened up its domestic market to generics in 1984, they have grown from 19 percent of prescriptions to 86 percent, by some accounts saving the United States government, consumers and employers more than $100 billion a year. Drug companies stand to gain handsomely if the T.P.P. limits the sale of generics.

The second strategy is to undermine government regulation of drug prices. More competition is not the only way to keep down the prices of essential goods and services. Governments can also directly restrain prices through law, or effectively restrain them by denying reimbursement to patients for “overpriced” drugs — thus encouraging companies to bring down their prices to approved levels. These regulatory approaches are especially important in markets where competition is limited, as it is in the drug market. If the United States Trade Representative gets its way, the T.P.P. will limit the ability of partner countries to restrict prices. And the pharmaceutical companies surely hope the “standard” they help set in this agreement will become global — for example, by becoming the starting point for United States negotiations with the European Union over the same issues.

Americans might shrug at the prospect of soaring drug prices around the world. After all, the United States already allows drug companies to charge what they want. But that doesn’t mean we might not want to change things someday. Here again, the T.P.P. has us cornered: Trade agreements, and in particular individual provisions within them, are typically far more difficult to alter or repeal than domestic laws.
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http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/opinion/dont-trade-away-our-health


http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6590656
Fast Tracking Obama's Trade Agreements

The mystery about all this is two-fold:

(1) Why do so many members of Congress publicly support a trade treaty whose details they do not know, and

(2) Why do Majority Leader McConnell and Speaker Boehner -- who won reelection on a platform of "Stop Obama" -- support weakening Senate and House legislative processes to ratify a treaty whose text was negotiated without Congressional input and which the president keeps secret from them, their Members and the public.
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http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6590656




http://gu.com/p/453k7
Democrats oppose Obama's demand for fast-tracking Pacific trade deal
President uses State of the Union address to request authority to fast-track Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement with 11 other countries
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http://gu.com/p/453k7

Arguably the most important political issue in the world right now, the trade agreement which will assert corporate rights at the expense of sovereign populations in the AsiaPacific, seems to be getting very little traction in the Australian media.

Despite the current leadership fight, of critical importance for our citizens is the US governments insistance on gaining fast track approval for trade negotiations as outlined in the state of the union adress, thus pushing forward negotiations and bringing a multi state deal on the agreement closer to a signing date. Abbott and Bishop have both abjectly thrown their support behind the treaty and if rumors are to be believed Australia has been an agressive advocate of some of the worst provisions. This is nothing less than a total betrayal of the public in favor of the treaties corporate authors.

If the liberal party is truly set on the path of being more consultative which I doubt then public rejection of this deal without thorough and open scrutiny should turn heads.

If there was ever a time to be our own advocates now is it. Much like the growing anti TTP movement in the US, which is shaking the democrats base so to could Australian citizens gain traction with a vulnerable or opportunistic politicians in gov.

Possibly the most important issue that you could protest, share, discuss and contact your representatives about at this time.



Dont allow our futures to be signed away, or made that much harder without a fight
 
haven't heard a single positive thing out of the TPP negotiations. so bad i simply cannot fathom why we (or anyone) would sign it.
 
Long Live HFC said:
haven't heard a single positive thing out of the TPP negotiations. so bad i simply cannot fathom why we (or anyone) would sign it.
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Yeah it blows my mind. The Tea party hardliners are allying with house progressives because congress simply isnt being given access to details.

Yet senior figures on both sides are asking for Obama to get the fast track free pass.

If nothing else and ignoring the leaks, people ahould reject such an important trade framework, being decided without both public and wider political consultation.

Still, some of the draft provisions should give pause. It would fundamentally change the nature of the health services, entertainment industry, the internet, and the ability of our legislators to act on behalf of our interest,
 
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