U.S. to Begin Negotiations To Enter TPP
The Obama administration on Tuesday, in a letter to congressional leaders, announced its intention to move forward with a massive free trade agreement that would be the largest since the North American Free Trade Agreement.
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a letter that the U.S. plans to begin negotiations to enter into the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The TPP is currently comprised of Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore. Vietnam and Australia are in negotiations to enter the free trade zone. In addition, Kirk said that he would eventually like to see Japan, Malaysia, Peru and South Korea enter the fold as well.
“U.S. participation in the TPP agreement is predicated on the shared objective of expanding this initial group to additional countries,” Kirk wrote.
The U.S. currently has bilateral trade agreements with Chile, Peru, Singapore and Australia as well as a negotiated but yet-to-be-ratified deal with South Korea.
The negotiations are set to begin in March of next year, but the harder part may be convincing congress to ratify the deal. The U.S. currently has three already negotiated bilateral free trade agreements waiting to be voted on by congress - with South Korea, Columbia and Panama.
Most Congressional Democrats and a growing slice of the American public are increasingly disillusioned with free trade because of massive jobs loss, exploding trade deficit, environmental and human rights concerns and worries about product safety.
The one argument the administration can make that may hold some sway is the fact that entering into the agreement could provide an opportunity to blunt China’s growing influence in the region.
Even so, it will be an uphill battle. One Senior Democrat, Sander Levin, the chairman of the trade subcommittee in the House Ways and Means Committee, is already raising objections. He said that Vietnam would have to allow workers to organize and Japan would have to be more willing to accept American auto imports before a deal could even be considered, according to Bloomberg News.
The news is certainly music to the ears of Republicans, however, who urged the president to move forward with his trade agenda in an effort to create jobs.
"I would submit to the administration that there are three ways, three bills that we can bring forward that don't cost us money, that don't add to our nation's debt, that create free jobs here in our country for manufacturing, for agriculture, and for our service sector base," Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) said. "And they are Panama, Colombia and South Korea."
But, following the lead of the snake-oil salesmen that came before him, those that sold the American public on NAFTA, Kirk said that the deal would reflect U.S. values, create an untold amount of jobs in the U.S. and make American businesses more competitive.
"The TPP I intend to negotiate and conclude will reflect U.S. priorities and values, enhance American competitiveness, and generate job-creating opportunities for American businesses and workers," he said.
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This Work, U.S. to Begin Negotiations To Enter TPP, by Dustin Ensinger is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license.
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More 'Free Trade'! More job losses for countries where workers used to make a decent living, more job gains for the developing nations. Great for the bankers and the corporations; great for the export business, exporting jobs that is. Long live Captalism!
Has anyone ever read 1984? The language that our political leaders are using is called doublespeak.
More Protectionist Trade against America while the country is in a recession. What a policy. Im sure if this agreement passes there are still many barriers to US exports. The purpose of the agreement is to encourage more outsourcing where outsourcers that setup shop overseas get the free access to the foreign market. If this agreement has barriers to US exports like im sure it does and is still called free trade, then its akin to fraud. When there is fraud people are cheated and lose. And currently jobs we are losing big time.
American values? President Obama only knows bankers values. TPP negotiations will go the way of single payer health care reform.
What TPP will do is force 8 year old, 50 cents a day Chinese textile workers to compete with 8 year old, 25 cents a day Vietnamese and Chilean textile workers.
Well I sure feel better knowing that I will still be able to buy a t-shirt and pair of jeans at Walmart for twenty bucks.
Bush43 never really surprised me. My Mom said, "The worst thing that can happen to a country is to discover the leader is a reformed drunk who found religion." I knew he was a frat bully in college. Hated those guys.
I supported Ralph Nadar in 2000.
By contrast, President Obama, who I supported in 2008 never ceases to amaze me. Barrack Obama has no American values. He has bankers values.
This trade agreement will go the way of single payer health payer reform. Obama is a sellout and a fraud.
Since we missed the older comments, here is a refresher from USCC (.gov):
China chooses pillar or strategic industries on the following criteria:
Defense
Job creation
Technology acquisition
Competitive advantage
Several industries fall under more than one criterion. Table 1 lists the pillar industries under their different criteria, and in some instances, under more than one criterion. The following industries constitute pillar or strategic industries for China as promulgated in China’s 10th and 11th five year plans:
Aerospace
Autos & auto parts
Banking & insurance
Bio-technology
Computer chip design & manufacture
Computing & computer hardware
Information technology
Iron & steel
Logistics, shipping and storage
Machinery and mechanical equipment
Oil & petrochemicals
Software
Telecommunications & telecom equipment
Utilities & power equipment
Wholesaling & retailing
Strategic brand equity
In addition to standard subsidies such as direct cash transfers to no-cost loans, etc., the central government has started offering subsidies in support of brand equity or support to specific brands of products. The central government does offer special incentives for foreign companies to enter China in some of the pillar industries, for instance autos & auto parts, telecom equipment, bio-technology, information technology and computer chip design & manufacture. In many instances, provincial and local municipal governments offer incentives. In some instances, such as with the steel industry and the logistics, shipping and storage industries, and more recently in the acquisition of leading brands, foreign companies experience barriers and regulatory obstacles to entry.
According to web blogs, Larry Summers, the chief economic advisor to President Obama, emphasized: Under no circumstances, should America have an industrial policy.
If that is true, we are dead.
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