TPP

Bringing +19,000 Voices To The Secretive TPP Negotiations

July 15, 2014 Open Media, www.openmedia.ca Organize! Canada, Free Trade Agreements, TPP

For over two years now, we've been pushing back against the secretive and extreme Trans-Pacific Partnership, specifically the provisions around intellectual property, which would censor the Internet and require your Internet service provider to make serious violations of your privacy rights. Those behind this deal - the 12 negotiating countries, and the industry lobbyists who get privileged access to the negotiations - never make it easy for civil society groups to participate in the negotiating rounds. This time really was a new low, however, as at the last minute the location of the talks changed from Vancouver to Ottawa - 3,500 kilometres away. Since we'd already promised the over 19,000 people who submitted comments using our Internet Voice tool that we would share their concerns with the TPP decision-makers, I made the trip to Ottawa. I'm taking this opportunity to tell you a little bit about what that was like - to take you under-the-hood of how it feels to challenge huge government and corporate bureaucracies in this way, by bringing public perspectives into what should be a democratic process.

Open Letters Warn TPP Will Force ‘Policing’ Of Internet

July 12, 2014 Jeremy Malcolm and Maira Sutton, www.eff.org Organize! Copyright, EFF, Protest, TPP

Today, EFF and its partners in the global Our Fair Deal coalition join together with an even more diverse international network of creators, innovators, start-ups, educators, libraries, archives and users to release two new open letters to negotiators of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP, although characterized as a free trade agreement, is actually far broader in its intended scope. Amongst many changes to which it could require the twelve negotiating countries to agree are a slate of increased rights and privileges for copyright rights holders. With no official means of participating in the negotiations, the global community of users and innovators who will be affected by these proposed changes have been limited to expressing their concerns through open letters to their political representatives and to the officials negotiating the agreement.

Protesters Cry Foul At Secrecy Around TPP Talks

July 12, 2014 Marie-Danielle Smith, www.ottawacitizen.com Resist! Free Trade Agreements, Protest, Secrecy, TPP

Protesters gathered outside the Delta Hotel in Ottawa Thursday morning where trade talks are underway among Trans-Pacific Partnership members. Protesters held signs that said, “secret deal being negotiated here” and “stop the TPP,” while the Raging Grannies, an Ottawa-based satirical singing group, performed outside the hotel. Canada is one of 12 countries involved in the talks, with meetings held behind closed doors. The Citizen reported Monday it was believed at least some of the talks were being held at the John G. Diefenbaker Building, where the government’s international trade offices are located. The Council of Canadians told the Citizen it believes there is too much secrecy around the talks, which were initially planned for Vancouver but moved to Ottawa at the last minute. Negotiators are meeting to discuss agreements on intellectual property, investment, state-owned enterprises and rules of origin.

Occupy Venice: ‘May The 4th Be With You’

July 5, 2014 Occupy Venice, www.popularresistance.org Organize! Corporate Personhood, Rolling Rebellion, TPP, Wars and Militarism

In keeping with the theme "May the 4th be with you", Occupy Venice aka the Rebel Alliance joined with members of Vets for Peace, the Topanga Peace Alliance and other activist groups as a part of the 4th of July Parade down Main St in Santa Monica. Over 50 participants led the call to overturn the Empire and fight the TPP, Corporate Personhood, and a new war in Iraq. "Stop Wars" banners and street theater filled the parade as OV acted out lightsaber duels with stormtroopers and against the evil corporate influence of money in politics. The crowd of 5,000 joined in on chants of "The people united will never be defeated!" and cheered along with the march. The Rebel Alliance continued their march down the Venice boardwalk and rallied throughout the rest of the day, welcoming the public and tourists to take part.

TPP Flees 2,665 Miles To Avoid Protesters

July 4, 2014 Cory Doctorow, www.boingboing.net Resist! Canada, Free Trade Agreements, Protesters, TPP

What could make the secretive Trans Pacific Partnership process even less legit? Moving it at the last minute, under cover of darkness, from Vancouver to Ottawa, in order to avoid critics of the treaty and how it is being negotiated. The TPP is a secretive treaty that allows corporations to sue governments that enact environmental, health and governmental regulations that interfere with their profits. It also calls for vastly expanded Internet spying and censorship in the name of protecting copyright. Only trade negotiators and corporate lobbyists are allowed to see the drafts of the agreement (though plenty of these drafts have leaked) -- often times, members of Congress and Parliament are denied access to them, even though the agreement will set out legal obligations that these elected officials will be expected to meet. And while negotiators and interested civil society groups now know (unless it changes again) that the talks will be indeed be held in Ottawa, no other details have been revealed. Nobody -- not even negotiators coming to Canada next week for the talks -- have been told the location. Specific information about when negotiations on specific chapters will take place are being kept similarly under wraps.

Clinton Global Initiative For Rigged Corporate Trade

July 3, 2014 Michele Swenson, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! Free Trade Agreements, Hillary Clinton, Inequality, NAFTA, TPP

NAFTA promoters in the '90s promised increased U.S. exports and jobs, with shrinking trade deficits. Senior Fellows of the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), projected a NAFTA-induced trade surplus with Mexico, in turn, creating 170,000 new U.S. jobs by 1995. Within two years of NAFTA's passage, PIIE prognosticators readjusted their projection of new NAFTA-created jobs downward to "zero." The same group, created by billionaire corporate cheerleader Pete Peterson, is again forecasting increased exports and jobs if the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is passed. Referencing 19 serious pre-NAFTA economic studies projecting zero net job loss if NAFTA were to pass, President Bill Clinton estimated the creation of 200,000 U.S. jobs within two years, and 1 million within five years, based on a projected export boom to Mexico. Twenty years after Clinton signed NAFTA into law, Global Trade Watch reports a 450 percent increase in the U.S. trade deficit, resulting in the export of almost one million jobs, and downward pressure on wages. In fact, the average annual U.S. agricultural trade deficit with Mexico and Canada ballooned to almost three times the pre-NAFTA level, to $975 million within two decades of NAFTA's passage, eliminating an estimated one million net U.S. jobs by 2004, reports the Economic Policy Institute.

Young Students’ Solution To Corporate Rule

June 25, 2014 Staff, www.popularresistance.org Educate! Corporatism, Economics, TPP, wealth inequality

Congratulations to the 2014 economics club. After they arranged and completed an interview with former economic hit-man John Perkins, they wrote, directed, filmed and edited a successful submission for the C-SPAN documentary contest. Despite not placing in the C-SPAN competition, they received praise for their work from former assistant secretary of the treasury and editor of the wall st. journal Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, journalist and author Nomi Prins, and investigative journalist James Corbett. They even had requests from citizens in foreign countries to release it in different languages. When this video was brought to our attention, we thought it would be important to share it with our readers. The students explain the current economic and political environment in a clear and concise manner that people of all ages will appreciate. And they put forth a positive solution.

Alarming New Secret Trade Deal Exposed By Wikileaks

June 24, 2014 David Cay Johnston, www.america.aljazeera.com Educate! Democracy, TISA, TPP, Trade

The draft agreement WikiLeaks released on June 19 is fresh, written in May. It is a model of secret law, blatant in its disregard for transparency, democratic process and history. Its opening page says the terms are to remain secret for five years after negotiations formally end or the proposed new rules take effect. Talks to refine that agreement were to resume Monday in Geneva. The 18-page draft agreement involves 50 nations, which produce more than two-thirds of officially measured global economic activity. That means the consequences of the new rules would be enormous, especially for those living in the more than 140 countries not taking part in the talks. Whether people can get loans or buy insurance and at what prices as well as what jobs may be available will be affected by any new trade rules.

The Pacific Trade Deal, Fast Track, And The 2014 Elections

June 23, 2014 Bill Waren, www.foe.org Educate! Congress, Corporatism, Elections, fast track, TPP

Recently, I had the opportunity to appear with Ian Levitt, the host of The Daily Report on Minnesota radio station KTNF. He is conducting a series of interviews with me regarding the environmental threat posed by legislation that would “fast track” the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement and a similar trans Atlantic free trade agreement, which is the early stages of negotiation. The focus of our discussion was the TPP, which appears to be in the final stage of closed-door bargaining among the parties. It is a colossal trade deal in terms of its geographic and economic reach. The participants in the secretive negotiations include Japan, the communist dictatorship of Vietnam, the Sultanate of Brunei (ruled under sharia law), and eight other Pacific nations: a mixed bag in terms of observance of human rights standards, to say the least. The TPP would undercut sensible safeguards related to food safety, financial industry abuses and global warming, among many others. As I told KTNF listeners,, “a long list of special favors to the wealthy and the corporations is in this so-called trade agreement. It’s a Wall Street Bill of Rights.”

WikiLeaks: Global Trade Deal Kept More Secret Than TPP

June 20, 2014 Mike Ludwig, www.truthout.org Educate! Julian Assange, TPP, Wikileaks

The whistleblower and transparency website WikiLeaks published on Thursday the secret draft text of the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) Financial Services Annex, a controversial global trade agreement promoted by the United States and European Union that covers 50 countries and is opposed by global trade unions and anti-globalization activists. Activists expect the TISA deal to promote privatization of public services in countries across the globe, and WikiLeaks said the secrecy surrounding the trade negotiations exceeds that of even the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) that has made headlines in the past year.

International Day Of Action To Stop TAFTA

June 15, 2014 Staff, www.redpepper.org.uk Organize! TAFTA, TPP

If agreed, TTIP would extend the power of big business over our society to unprecedented levels. It would grant corporations the power to sue governments for making laws that 'damage' their profits, threatening to make the privatisation of our public services, like the NHS and education irreversible. This deal is also about undoing hard-won regulation that protects workers’ rights, the environment and our health. Harmful industries like fracking would be given an easier ride and banks and financial institutions would gain even more power. Meanwhile, food safety standards would be undermined and pay and conditions at work could decline. Trade deals like this have been beaten before.

Nat’l LGBT Groups Demand US Stop Negotiating With Brunei

June 14, 2014 Jerame Davis, www.prideatwork.org Resist! Brunei, LGBTQ, TPP

Today, several prominent national lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equality organizations released a joint letter to President Obama demanding that the US cease further negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement with Brunei after that country enacted a strict new penal code that targets women, LGBT people, and religious minorities. "Brunei's new laws are an affront to human rights and basic decency," said Jerame Davis, interim Executive Director of Pride at Work. "The United States, and every other nation considering doing business with Brunei, should immediately cease any negotiations or consideration for that country as a trading partner. Human rights abusers don't get preferential treatment."

Los Angeles Resolution Opposing Obama’s TPP

June 8, 2014 The Orange Juice Blog, www.orangejuiceblog.com Organize! California, fast track, Organizing, TPP

Here’s John-Paul Leonard of The Progressive Press: In a story that has gone completely unreported in the media, the Los Angeles City Council has approved a resolution against the TPP. The Council made a very strong statement against the attempt to usurp city and citizen sovereignty by a secret and unconstitutional legislative procedure called “Fast Track.” Incredibly, under Fast Track Congress can’t even amend a law, clearly abolishing a basic right of the legislature. The arrogance and perfidy of the corporatists seems unbelievable, but we know how they are. Evidently, the Los Angeles Times did not deem it worthy of mention! To me it seems quite historic, like Los Angeles’ own contemporary version of the Declaration of Independence. The globalist corporate controlled media obviously don’t want any of that.

1.8 Million People Call For TPP To Be Made Public

June 4, 2014 Fuseworks Media, www.voxy.co.nz Resist! Petition, Popular Protest, TPP, Transparency

A petition of more than 1.8 million people worldwide, calling for the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to be made public has been delivered to Australia’s Parliament this morning. Australian Parliamentarians and representatives from a range of Australian and international organisations, including 350.org, Avaaz and SumOfUs, have joined forces to call on the negotiating Governments to disclose the details of the TPP. The TPP is a highly secretive and expansive free trade agreement between the United States and twelve countries in the highly biodiverse Pacific Rim, including Australia, Mexico and New Zealand. To date, it has been negotiated in secret with no external input other than that of 600 corporate lobbyists. Leaked text reveals that the deal would empower corporations, including big oil, coal and gas companies, to directly sue governments in private and non-transparent trade tribunals over laws and policies that they allege reduce their profits.

USTR Told: Help Workers Not Just Corporations

June 4, 2014 Dave Johnson, www.ourfuture.org Resist! Congress, Corporatism, Mass Media, TPP

Last week 153 Democratic members of Congress – three-fourths of the Democrats in the House – signed a letter to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman demanding that trade negotiators focus first on protecting the rights of working people to organize before asking Congress to approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. Currently the negotiations appear to be focused primarily on increasing corporate and investor rights – even as lethal violence continues against union organizers in Colombia following the trade agreement approved by Congress and signed by President Obama in 2011. Past trade agreements have cost millions of American jobs and increased our country’s trade deficit while helping to dramatically increase income inequality.

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