Free Trade

Uruguay Withdraws From TISA, Symbolic Blow To Trade Deal

September 18, 2015 Glyn Moody, www.techdirt.com Resist! Free Trade, TISA, Uruguay

By Glyn Moody in Tech Dirt - Techdirt first mentioned the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) last year, when "The Really Good Friends of Services" -- the self-chosen name for about 20 members of the World Trade Organization -- could no longer keep their plans locked behind closed doors, and word started to spread. Essentially, TISA completes the unholy trinity of global trade agreements that also includes TPP and TAFTA/TTIP. Between the three of them, they sew up just about every aspect of trade in both goods and services -- the latter being TISA's particular focus. They share a common desire to liberalize trade as much as possible, and to prevent national governments from imposing constraints on corporate activity around the world. One particularly blatant reflection of this desire is the inclusion of something called the "ratchet clause."

Destructive Global Dependencies

August 24, 2015 Ralph Nader, www.blog.nader.org Educate! Finance and the Economy, Free Trade, TPP

By Ralph Nader - Welcome to the world of extreme dependency by the U.S., the world’s biggest economy, on the instabilities of small and large nations overseas. This dependency is exactly what the giant corporations further by pushing globalization, often to misname it “free trade” in order to boost Congressional and White House support for the “global economy”. Although big business won’t go so far as to advocate U.S. dependence-inducing globalized markets for oil, they are pushing for trade agreements that make the U.S. more dependent even on essentials like food and medicines. For example, 80 percent of our seafood is now imported, often through dubiously treated fish farms from China. Eighty percent of the ingredients in the medicines you take come from China and India where there are very few inspectors from the Food and Drug Administration, assuming they can gain entry visas.

‘Free Trade’ Largest Transfer Of Wealth In World History

August 13, 2015 Benjamin Clement, www.economyincrisis.org Educate! Finance and the Economy, Free Trade

By Benjamin Clement in Economy In Crisis - “Free trade” has essentially led to the most massive wealth transfer in the history of the world. The United States has not witnessed a trade surplus since 1975, and since then trillions of dollars have been lost through trade deficits caused by “free trade” on our end and protectionism on the other. The most significant flaw with all of our “free trade” agreements is that they are impossible to enforce, and because of this competition is impossible. “Free trade” depends on the premise that all countries will play by the same rules. However, in the real world, assuring that this occurs is incredibly expensive, time-consuming and inefficient to contest. We have simply been unable to create a universally free market. Like communism before it, true “free trade” works only in theory, on a large scale and when utilized by all.

Corporate Lobbying Expense Jumps As U.S. Trade Debate Rages

July 25, 2015 Alex Wilts, www.reuters.com Educate! Capitalism, Corruption, Free Trade, Lobby, TPP

By Alex Wilts in Reuters - Washington lobbying by companies and groups involved in global trade boomed in the past nine months, records show, as Congress debated a landmark trade pact proposed by President Barack Obama, the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Lobbying expenditures by members of a pro-TPP coalition increased to $135 million in the second quarter of 2015, up from $126 million in the first quarter and $118 million in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to Senate Office of Public Records reports reviewed by Reuters. The spending surge occurred among members of the U.S. Business Coalition for TPP, a group that hopes a final TPP deal can be completed by the end of 2015. Trade negotiators from the 12 TPP countries will gather in Hawaii next week for meetings aimed at wrapping up the deal.

Protests Planned For TPP Ministerial Meeting In Hawaii

July 18, 2015 Mackenzie McDonald Wilkins, www.flushthetpp.org Resist! Finance and the Economy, Free Trade, Hawaii, Protest, TPP

By Mackenzie McDonald Wilkins in Flush the TPP - In less than two weeks, from July 28-31, “the United States will host a meeting of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Trade Ministers in Maui, Hawaii, preceded by a meeting of TPP Chief Negotiators from July 24-27” (USTR). People in Hawaii are leading the charge to organize protests in opposition to the meetings. The protests will educate and unite people on Hawaii against corporate imperial “trade” deals that will threaten indigenous sovereignty on the island, increase the use of GMO crops, diminish worker rights, and reward multinationals that pollute the environment on the islands and around the world. There will also be solidarity actions across the country. Many of the countries involved in the TPP negotiations are ready to close the deal, despite major concerns from other countries.

Why No One Really Wants The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)

July 18, 2015 James Moreland, www.economyincrisis.org Educate! Finance and the Economy, Free Trade, TPP

By James Moreland in Economy In Crisis - The New York Times has reported that the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations will see a wrap late July. However, many of the 12 countries still have big issues that need to be solved before this agreement can move forward. Regardless of any issues these countries may have, America is ultimately going to be the biggest loser with this trade deal. We are the largest consumer nation in the world. Countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, and Japan need our economy to continue thriving. Whatever issues they may have, they will soon get over it since they need us more than we need them. Regardless, citizens in their countries are protesting against the TPP in the streets and their protests have helped slow down the TPP. People in Japan, Canada, Australia, the U.S., and New Zealand have been up in arms about the TPP.

TTIP Will Force All Europeans To Take Greece’s Medicine

July 17, 2015 John Hilary, www.politics.co.uk Educate! Austerity, Europe, Finance and the Economy, Free Trade, Greece, TTIP

By John Hilary in Politics - If the Greek crisis has shown how the institutions of the EU will stop at nothing to force through their own brand of capitalist discipline, TTIP is confirmation that we will all soon be tasting the same medicine. This week sees the 10th round of negotiations towards the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the controversial EU-US trade deal that threatens our jobs, our public services and our democracy itself. The talks come hot on the heels of last week's pro-TTIP vote in the European Parliament, where MEPs turned their backs on their electorate in favour of a deal that will benefit only big business and the banks. The European Parliament passed a resolution on July 8 giving the green light to the continuing TTIP negotiations, despite the fact that a record 2.3 million people from across the EU have now signed a European Citizens' Initiative rejecting the deal altogether.

Did US Change Human Trafficking Ranking For The TPP?

July 14, 2015 Communications Workers of America, www.popularresistance.org Educate! Free Trade, Human Rights, Malaysia, TPP

By Communications Workers of America - Advocates for human rights and anti-trafficking efforts have been expressing outrage about the news that Malaysia is poised to receive an improved ranking on the U.S. State Department’s annual assessment of human trafficking across the globe. The assessed improvement is at odds with the recent and troubling facts on the ground, many experts are pointing out. Perhaps most troubling is the notion that the upgraded Malaysia ranking is driven by the Obama Administration’s desire to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact. AsReuters reported last week: “The upgrade to so-called ‘Tier 2 Watch List’ status removes a potential barrier to President Barack Obama's signature global trade deal.

Are the Koch Brothers Trying To Influence TTIP Negotiations?

July 9, 2015 Kyla Mandel, www.desmog.uk Educate! Europe, Free Trade, Koch, TTP

By Kyla Mandel in DeSmogBlog - The latest release of lobbying data on the European Commission’s Transparency Register has raised concerns that the fossil-fuelled Kochs are trying to influence the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership(TTIP) negotiations. Digging through the data, DeSmog UK found that the European arm of Koch Industry’s legal, lobbying and public affairs branch – known as Koch Companies Public Sector LLC – has spent up to £0.5m lobbying EUpolicymakers on the environment, energy and free trade. And according to the voluntary register, Koch Industries – the largest privately owned energy company in the United States, known for funding climate denial groups – has a particular interest in lobbying on the “EU’s free trade agreement negotiations.”

USTR Clears Advisers To Read TPP Draft

July 9, 2015 Victoria Guida, www.politico.com Educate! Finance and the Economy, Free Trade, Politics, TPP

By Victoria Guida in POLITICO - Advisers of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will receive access to the full negotiating text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership starting Thursday, a spokesman for the agency confirmed today. "This week, a diverse group of trade advisers — including labor unions, industry experts, environmental groups and public advocates — will begin viewing draft TPP negotiating text as part of the congressionally established trade advisory process," the spokesman told POLITICO. "These advisers will receive full and equal access to the draft negotiation text in an effort to ensure that they can adequately prepare congressionally mandated reports on TPP.

9 Ways The TPP Is Bad For Developing Countries

July 9, 2015 Rick Rowden, www.foreignpolicy.com Educate! Finance and the Economy, Free Trade, TPP

By Rick Rowden in Foreign Policy - The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — a major new trade agreementunder negotiation among 12 countries in the Asia-Pacific region — received a shot in the arm in the United States at the end of June when Congress voted to grant President Barack Obama “fast-track” authority to negotiate it. The TPP has fueled considerable dispute. Reasons for this include the secrecy with which talks have been conducted, the agreement’spotential effects on U.S. jobs and growth, and its geopolitical implications. But one issue that has received comparatively little attention is how the TPP is likely to impact the developing countries slated to join. The United Nations designates six of the 12 TPP members — Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, and Vietnam — as “developing countries.” If enacted, the TPP could block these countries from successfully industrializing and joining the developed world.

Flashmob Choir Interrupts TTIP Congress

July 4, 2015 Cory Doctorow, www.boingboing.net Resist! Democract, Free Trade, TTIP

By Cory Doctorow in Boing Boing - Like its cousin, the Trans Pacific Partnership, TTIP is being negotiated by trade officials and industry reps, without any oversight from elected legislators and without any participation by citizens' groups, environmental groups, or labor groups. And like TPP, it is expected to arrive with Investor State Dispute Settlement provisions that lets offshore corporations sue your government to overturn the democratically enacted environmental, labor and safety laws that undermine their profitability. At a pro-TTIP congress where the Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister was promoting the treaty, a flashmob of attendees stood up singly and then in bunches, singing "Do You Hear the People Sing?" a rousing revolutionary song from Les Miserables, as the moderator sputtered with comic ineffectualness into the microphone. It's a hell of a video.

Trade In Services Agreement AKA TiSA Released

July 2, 2015 WikiLeaks, www.wikileaks.org Educate! Free Trade, TISA, Wikileaks

By WikiLeaks - WikiLeaks releases a modern journalistic holy grail: the secret Core Text for the largest 'trade deal' in history, the TiSA (Trade In Services Agreement), whose 52 nations together comprise two-thirds of global GDP. The negotiating parties are the United States, the 28 members of the European Union and 23 other countries, including Turkey, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Pakistan, Taiwan and Israel. Today's publication happens the week before the next TiSA negotiating round that begins on Monday, 6 July. WikiLeaks is also today publishing the full agenda for next week's negotiations, which shows that discussions will focus on Financial Services,Telecommunications and the Movement of Natural Persons.

The TPP And Why The US Is Pivoting To Asia

July 2, 2015 Interview with Walden Bello John Tarleton in Indypendent, www.indypendent.org Educate! Corporatism, Democracy, Free Trade, TPP

Interview with Walden Bello by John Tarleton in Indypendent - The TPP is not really about trade. It’s a really big push to deepen and solidify U.S. corporate control over every sphere of life. For people in the United States, the greatest concern is that the TPP will promote the export of jobs and will have a very negative impact on the environment because corporations as much as possible will try to weaken environmental laws in all of these countries. On our side of the Pacific, the great concern is that our governments are going to lose their power because Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms will give corporations the right to sue states that interfere with their push for profitability. These cases would be heard in secret tribunals staffed by corporate lawyers that will have the power under the TPP to overrule national laws.

Zeese And Flowers: TPP Fight Is NOT Over!

June 29, 2015 Interview with Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers Joan Brunwasser, www.opednews.com Resist! Elections, Free Trade, Politics, TPP

Interview with Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers by Joan Brunwasser in OpEdNews - The Congress will receive it for 60 days before the Fast Track clock starts counting, then there will be additional time for the House to debate and vote followed by the Senate. So we will have several months to educate, organize and mobilize people. This is likely to occur in the Fall, some estimate the likely time will be November. We will know more about the exact dates as we see when the negotiations are finalized. The key thing about that timing is the election season. Anytime after Labor Day is considered the re-election season for members of Congress. This puts them more on edge, more concerned about the voters. As we saw in the Fast Track vote, only the minimum number would take the risk of voting for Fast Track. Elected officials concern with public opinion, and fear of a populist revolt, will be an even greater concern in the fall.

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