Alliance for Democracy Oregon
  • Home
    • Contact Us
    • Community Contacts
  • Campaigns
    • Election Reform >
      • Protect the Vote 2020
      • Campaign Finance Reform >
        • City of Portland Limits on ballot
      • Electoral_College >
        • Electoral_College- Action Now
      • Gerrymandering >
        • Gerrymandering News
      • Right to Vote
      • Voter Suppression
    • End Corporate Personhood, Money is Speech >
      • Changing the rules
      • McCutcheon - more reading
      • Post Card action
    • Creating Fair Trade
    • Renegotiating NAFTA >
      • Petitions
      • Post Card Campaign
      • USMCA
      • Replace NAFTA News
    • Public Bank >
      • Vision & MIssion >
        • About Public Banking
      • Resources >
        • Videos
        • NEWS
      • Supporters
    • Healthcare for All >
      • Healthcare Videos
  • Events
    • Alliance for Democracy sponsored events
    • Community Events
  • Media
    • Conversations with Doctor Don
    • Populist Dialogues >
      • 2018 Programs
      • 2017 Programs
      • 2015 Programs
      • 2014 Programs
      • 2013 Programs
      • 2012 Programs
      • 2011 Programs
    • Prescription for Justice
  • Photo Gallery
  • AfD newsletters
  • We the People initiative volunteer sign up
  • May 10 Agreement
  • Resources for a progressive America
  • Fed legislation to follow 2017
  • Defending Water for Life
  | Home TPP page | ISDS Decisions | Wikileaks- Chapter on Intellectual Property RIghts | More on TPP | Major Reports | No Fast Track Authority

Picture
Victory for the People!
November 2016
President Obama has announced that he will not push for TPP approval during the lame-duck session of Congress. 

This great victory is the result of the actions of progressive people and some conservative allies in pressuring our US Senators and Representatives to oppose the TPP.  This has been a movement of movements and individuals.  Read Arthur Stamoulis, Exec Director of Citizens Trade Campaign, article on who won this battle here.

While we declare our victory, we must also remain aware that the corporatists will not give up and we must be watchful after Donald Trump becomes President. 


Moving to the
Future of Trade

Please visit our two new pages related to corporate trade deals.
Creating Fair Trade
Renegotiating NAFTA


What was the TPP in less than 150 words?

The TPP covers 40 percent of the global economy, yet it was negotiated in secret with hundreds of corporate advisors while the public was locked out. The key provision in TPP grants new rights to thousands of foreign corporations to sue the U.S. government before a panel of 3 corporate lawyers. These lawyers can award the corporations unlimited sums to be paid by America's taxpayers, including for the loss of expected future profits. These foreign corporations need only convince the lawyers that a U.S. law or safety regulation violates their TPP rights. Their decisions are not subject to appeal and the amount awarded has no limit. This agreement is not good for American taxpayers. It means higher drug prices. It makes it easier to send jobs overseas, means fewer jobs and lower wages, and a government that doesn't work for us.

TAKE ACTION
TPP Agreement Text

TTIP text leaked

May, 2016.  Greenpeace Netherlands leaked the secret text of the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, being negotiated between the the EU and the USA.
Read the text here.

Analysis since the text was released   
More reports are available here



How a Battle Over Affordable Medicine Helped Kill the TPP.   Dated Nov. 18, 2016

AFL-CIO letter to Congress on why they should reject the TPP.   Dated Nov. 8, 2016

The Climate Cost of Free Trade, How TPP and Trade Agreements Undermine the Paris Climate Agreement, Ben Lilliston, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy,

In this paper we’ll look at real world examples of how trade rules already conflict with climate goals, and dig into the TPP more deeply to project how the proposed deal creates barriers for countries trying to meet their Paris climate pledges
Toxic Buffet: How the TPP Trades Away Seafood Safety
The Trans-Pacific Partnership would make it harder to inspect seafood imports, putting potentially unsafe seafood in our food system.
A Food & Water Watch report.

A letter from Consumers Union on how the ISDS provisions of TPP will harm consumers
. Sept. 6, 2016


Senators Call For Global Super Court To Be Renegotiated, BuzzFeed News' Investigation of investor-state dispute settlement provokes a call for change on Capital Hill, Sept. 29, 2016, Chris Hamby, BuzzFeed News Reporter

Senator Merkley and 11 other Senators calls for the removal of the Investor-State-DisputeSettlement clause from the TPP.

How the TPP Special Court Crushes Domestic Law and Plunders the Public, August 30, 2016, David Dayen, Huffington Post

"A secretive super-court system called ISDS is threatening to blow up President Barack Obama’s highest foreign policy priority."

Trade Deficit with S. Korea Doubled During Four Years of Trade Part, March 15, 2016, Dave Johnson, OurFuture.org

"The U.S.-South Korea (KORUS) free trade agreement is now four years old. How’s it doing? Out trade deficit with that country has doubled, costing tens and hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs."
See also, Public Citizen report on the 3rd anniversary of US-Korea Trade Agreement.

The Climate Cost of Free Trade, How TPP and trade agreements undermine the Paris climate agreement, Sept 6, 2016, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

3 Ways the Trans Pacific Partnership Will Help Corporations—While Ruining the Climate
Trade rules should move countries together towards sustainability. Instead, they consistently allow multinational corporations to continue polluting. Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

Looming Trade Deals Threaten our Climate and Washington’s Fight against Fossil Fuels, 2 page statement by the Sierra Club

The Big Problem With the Trans-Pacific Partnership's Super Court That We're Not Talking About, Financiers will use it to bet on lawsuits, while taxpayers foot the bill.
8-29-16, The Huffington Post
"Investor-state dispute settlement — an integral part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal — allows companies to sue entire countries for costing them money when laws or regulations change. Cases are decided by extrajudicial tribunals composed of three corporate lawyers. Buzzfeed, in a multi-part investigation launched Sunday, called it “the court that rules the world.”"

The TPP and Border Economy, a report by the Texas Fair Trade Coalition, August 22, 2016
"The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) poses a significant threat to the U.S. - Mexico border economy by
creating new incentives to shift production of goods now made in Mexico to low cost competitors in
the Asia - Pacific region."

Does the TPP Work for Workers?  a report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, June, 2016

Peru Snubs Trade Deals: Why Would  TPP Member Nations Follow rules when others are already cheating with impunity?  Aug 9, 2016    "..it can’t be good news for America’s president that it may be letting Peru, a TPP signatory, get away with breaking the labor rights commitments it made in its 2007 bilateral trade deal with the U.S."

The Trouble with the TPP Copyright Rules, July 2016 .  A report frm the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.  "As the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations neared a conclusion in
2015, the intellectual property chapter generated enormous concern from copyright experts who feared it would dramatically alter the balance between the interests of creators and users. Those concerns were borne out by the final text, which significantly exceeds international norms, pays short shrift to user interests, and requires legislative changes in many countries including Canada."

TransCanada Lawsuit HIghlights Need to Scuttle TPP, op-ed from MSNBC July 15, 2016
Public Health Takes a Hit Even as Uruguay Prevails in Infamous Philip Morris Investor-State Attack  A report from Public Citizen issued July 12, 2016

Foreign Investor Protections in the Trans Pacific Partnership, a report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, June 2016

US International Trade Commission report finds little benefit from previous "free" trade agreements.  Read the report here.  Report issued June 30, 2016

New ITC Report Finds Disturbing Trends in U. S. Economy After Implementation of Free Trade Agreements, July 5, 2016.  Public Citizen, Eyes on Trade blog

Will the Trans Pacific Partnership make people sick?  July 1, 2016, American Catholic Review   

US International Trade Commission issues their report on effects of TPP on American economy May 17, 2016.  Reactions to the report:
.
Center for Economic and Policy Research, Dean Baker - Key Findings
Intellectual Property Watch - USITC Finds TPP Benefits US Economy, But Maybe Not Jobs; Unclear on IP Rights
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy - USITC Report Ignores Food Safety Costs; Overstates Benefits for Farmers
National Farmers Union - USITC Report Predicts Increase in Trade Deficit; Modest Gains from TPP
Good Fellow (Its Your Money, Grow It) -
USITC Report Portrays Lackluster Economic Benefits
Public Citizen - TPP Study Projects Worsening Trade Balance for 16 of 25 Economic Sectors, Overall US Trade Deficit Increase.  Includes statement from Lori Wallach
CWA (Communication Workers of America) - ITC Report Shows that TPP Fails American Workers
ITC Report Shows TPP Is Disastrous for Working Families - Press statement by the AFL-CIO
ITC Report Shows TPP's Deep Flaws for U.S. Workers, Says Machinists Union President - Statement by Machinists International President Robert Martinez, Jr.
R-CALF USA (United Stock Growers of America) - USITC Report Predicts Exceedingly Small Benefits for U.S. Beef Packers While Failing to Address Impacts to the U.S. Cattle Supply Chain

Levin Statement on ITC TPP Economic Import Report - Senator Levin statement
DeLauro Statement on The International Trade Commission's Report on The Trans-Pacific Partnership
 - Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro statement
US Government's Own Report Shows Toxic TPP "Not Worth Passing" - This report indicates the TPP will produce almost no benefits, but inflict real harm on so many workers. Published by Common Dreams
Why Pursue the TPP When We Know It won't Work - The Hill  Kevin Kearns is president of the U.S. Business & Industry Council, a national business organization advocating for domestic U.S. manufacturers since 1933.
Data Fail: The Divergence between Rosy International Trade Commission Projections and U.S. Trade Agreements’ Actual Outcomes   Report from Public Citizen May 2016
Want to Know if the TPP Will be a Disaster?  Just Look at the Korea Trade Deal.   May 12, 2016    U.S. Export to the nation have been flat since the deal. By Leo Gerard, Pres. US Steelworkers union

Farm Groups Against the TPP    April 27, 2016
This week, more than 160 farm, food, and faith groups sent a letter to congress asking it to reject the TPP and to stand up for independent farmers and ranchers.  The National Farmers Union is one of the groups claiming the main beneficiaries of the agreement are the companies that buy, process and ship raw ag commodities -- not the farmers who face real risks from rising import competition.

Keep the US Mining Company Out of Colombia's Amazon  A U.S. mining company has launched a $16.5 billion lawsuit against Colombia.  Read the NOTICE OF DEMAND AND DEMAND FOR ARBITRATION AND STATEMENT OF CLAIM, the official filing of the claim with the arbitration court.  

Public Health Groups Call for Congress to Reject TPP       More than 50 public health groups on Tuesday called on Congress to reject a trade agreement between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations because it will block access to affordable medicines.

Letter to Congress:  Environmental Organizations Urge Opposition to Trans-Pacific Partnership.  Critical look at the ISDS clauses of corporate trade agreements.


New York Lawmakers Opposing Pacific Trade Deal  3/23/16A bipartisan group of New York lawmakers on Wednesday told President Obama they are opposing a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade agreement.

The lawmakers — 13 Democrats and six Republicans of the 27-member delegation — sent a letter to the White House expressing “firm opposition” to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as negotiated because it will lead to more job losses for U.S. workers

The Choice Is Not Between TPP and No Trade by Lori Wallach, Public Citizen

Supporting Women Includes Opposing TPP   by Rep. Louise Slaughter, "Our pledge to support women across the world should include the promise to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)."

The WTO Just Ruled Against India’s Booming Solar Program,   "on Wednesday, the WTO released its ruling against India’s National Solar Mission, deciding that India’s efforts to boost local production of solar cells violated WTO rules. "

Oil Corporations v Climate, How Investors Use Trade Agreements to Undermine Climate Action.  Report from Greenpeace USA, Sierra Club and other. 

A Gold Standard for Workers?  The State of Labor Rights in Trans-Pacific Partnership  Counties.    Report by the AFL-CIO

Look to Honduras for Reasons the TPP Will Fail From the AFL-CIO, drawing connection between provisions in CAFTA and the TPP regarding protecting rights of labor. 

Weak Privacy Provisions in TTP Fail to Provide Bare Minimum Protections  "...Rather than setting the TPP privacy bar at having a national privacy law based on the OECD principles, the agreement weakens the shift toward a minimum standard of privacy protection."
​

Trans-Pacific Partnership will barely benefit Australia, says World Bank report.  Report notes that the US will have the smallest economic benefit from the TPP with economic growth of just .4% by 2030.  The actual report is here.

TransCanada Demands $15 Billion in NAFTA Investor-State Tribunal for XL Pipeline Rejection  Statement of Lori Wallach, Director, Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch. Additional new stories here.  And the statement from the Sierra Club is here.
June 2016 update:  TransCanada files their lawsuit against the US for $15 billion.

Hundreds of advocacy groups ask Congress to block Obama’s Pacific Rim trade pact 
A coalition of more than 1,500 interest groups is sending a letter to Congress on Thursday demanding that lawmakers block the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the 12-nation Pacific Rim trade pact championed by the Obama administration.  Read the letter here.

Dr Joshua Freeman, Dr Hayley Bennet: TPP could trump climate accord  According to these two New Zealand doctors, the TPP trade deal gives polluters power to sue governments who try to implement the Paris agreement.

US Trade Representative's Labor Advisory Committee (LAC)Report to Congress.  From the report "The LAC strongly opposes the TPP, negotiated between the United States (U.S.), Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. We believe that the Agreement fails to advance the economic interests of the U.S. and does not fulfill all of the negotiating objectives identified by Congress in the Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015. The threat to future economic gains here in the U.S. and the standard of living of our people will be put in jeopardy by the Agreement. These threats will grow over time based on the potential for open-ended expansion of the TPP to countries ranging from Indonesia to China. The LAC believes the agreement should not be submitted to Congress or, if it is, it should be quickly rejected. The interests of U.S. manufacturers, businesses, workers and consumers would be severely undermined by the entry into force of the TPP. "

Obamatrade's Fine Print Reveals Security Threat   Provisions including in past "free" trade agreements preventing multinational corporations from suing the US before Private Trade Tribunals for lost profits as result of decisions to not allow a corporation to do something because of security risk have not been included in the TPP. 

Pacific Trade Bill Would Bind Congress - TPP infringes on U. S. sovereignty, forcing America to live by its rules or face lawsuits   As detrimental as the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership may be for American workers, what many might not realize is that it could get worse over time.  The 12-nation trade pact gives unelected international bureaucrats the ability to make changes to the trade rules.

USW ( US Steelworkers) Leadership Statement Urges Rejection of TPP   The International Executive Board of the United Steelworkers (USW) today adopted a formal resolution urging rejection of the proposed 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal by both the U.S. Congress and the Canadian federal government.
Read the Report here. 

Two New Reports Show Trans-Pacific Partnership has Major Agricultural, Labor and Environmental Deficiencies  From the National Farmers Union

​How the TPP Will Affect You and Your Digital Rights    From the Electronic Frontier Foundation

Drug prices expected to rise as result of TPP deal  According to Doctors Without Borders, the TPP is result in increased drug prices, especially in those developing countries.

Will the Trans Pacific Partnership Hinder Access to Medicine, Part 1     By the Stanford Law School, Law and BioSciences Blog.  

3 Ways the Trans Pacific Partnership Will Hurt the Climate - If We Let It Pass  The next big trade deal is poised for a congressional vote in 2016. Here's what that means for the planet
​
How the TPP Will Create A Medical Privacy Hellscape A recent EU court decisions has reaffirmed the authority of individual EU nations the ability to require the localization of data, causing difficulties for Facebook, Google and others.  The TPP would prevent localization requirements in the TPP nations. 
​
​Initial Analyses of Key TPP Chapters
  Chapters analyzed include ACCESSION OF NEW COUNTRIES ENVIRONMENT, FINANCIAL SERVICES, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY – PATENTS, PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS/MEDICAL DEVICES ANNEX, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY – COPYRIGHT, INVESTMENT, LABOR, MARKET ACCESS, PROCUREMENT,  RULES OF ORIGIN , SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY STANDARDS, STATE OWNED ENTERPRISES, ENTRY INTO FORCE,  TOBACCO

​The TPP's Children's Table: Labor Rights and Currency  There are two classes of issues addressed by the TPP - those which are "serious adult issues" like protections of patents and investments, and those which are children's issues "like labor rights and currency manipulation."  And the TPP treats them quite differently

How May 10 Agreement interacts with TPP  ​In order to gain approval of the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement, President Bush negotiated the May 10 agreement setting certain environmental and other standards with certain Democrats, giving the Democrats cover to vote Yes.  But environmental organizations like Sierra Club and NRDC are saying that even those standards are undermined by TPP. 
 
Controversial trade deal lacks specific LGBT-specific provisions  While the trade agreement has provisions to expand bargaining rightsfor workers and other provisions to protect the rights based on race,sex,color,religion, political opinion, sexual orientation or gender identity is not included.  
 
As US Promotes TPP As A Way To Improve Labor Standards, Guatemala Shows Failed Promises of Previous Trade Deals  CAFTA proponents claimed that the labor standards contained in the agreement were the strongest in any such agreement negotiatied by the United States. In spite of the promises, Guatemala was named the most dangerous nation in the world for trade unionists. 

Jeff Sessions: Kill the 'Anti-Democratic" Trans-Pacific Partnership in the Crib, Repeal Fast-Track Authority Now  Sen. Jeff Sessions, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest discusses, among other things, the meaning of the formation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership's TPP Commission.  

TPP Text Reveals Risk for Consumer Privacy Reform  Rules in the E-Commerce chapter could subject laws/regulations which protect consumer and internet user privacy to suit under the Investor-State-Protection-Clause.  Read the Public Citizen report here. 

TPP Is A Bad Deal For America  The U. S. Business & Industry Council says TPP is "full of special deals for various U.S. trading partners, foreign corporations, and multinational U.S. businesses with little to promote domestic job growth in the United States."

Nurses:  Final TPP Text Even Worse Than Advertised      The release of the TPP text has confirmed the fears of "broad threats to public health and safety in the U.S. and other nations,"

TPP Caves to the Tobacco Industry, Threatens Public health  The TPP allows tobacco companies to protect their interests to "defeat popular initiatives to prevent or end addictionto lethal tobacco products."                         


Negotiations finished; text still not released

Picture
​​John Kerry, US Sec. of State, announced on October 5, 2015 that the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations, which had started 7 years ago, had been "successfully concluded."    He said that this agreement  " will spur economic growth and prosperity, enhance competitiveness, and bring jobs to American shores. It will provide new and meaningful access for American companies, large and small. And by setting high standards on labor, the environment, intellectual property, and a free and open Internet, this agreement will level the playing field for American businesses and workers"

However, even with the talks now being concluded, the agreement's text is still being kept secret.  In fact, we will not be able to read the text until after President Obama notifies Congress of his intent to sign the agreement.  Within 30 days, the text must be posted to a public site for 60 days.  That will be the soonest that the public can see what has be negotiated in our name. 

In spite of the secrecy, we do know much of what the agreement will do and it is not pretty. We know this because it is built on the US Korea Free Trade Agreement, signed three years ago. We also have copies of leaked text from WikiLeaks, the most recent on Oct. 9, 2015 of the Intellectual Property chapter.  Additionally, statements by President Obama, and his Trade Representatives have revealed more details.  

At minimum, we know that
  • tens of thousands of American jobs will be offshored
  • wages will go down because American workers will now have to compete with Vietnamese workers making .65/hour
  • unsafe food will flow into the United States
  • medical and drugs prices will go up
  • banks will be freed from oversight
  • a free and open Internet will be undermined
  • public procurement contracts will be open to all companies in the TPP
  • Buy American clauses will be eliminated
  • and most important, because of the Investor-State-Dispute-Settlement clause, our laws and regulations will be subject to challenge in unaccountable corporate trade tribunals
(Read more on this on the Public Citizens website here. 
What Others Are Saying

Communication Workers of America:  
CWA  statement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Reached in Atlanta
​

Doctors Without Borders:  
Statement by MSF on the Conclusion of TPP Negotiations in Atlanta

Electronic Frontier Foundation: 
The Final Leaked TPP Text Is All That We Feared

Food and Water Watch:  
Controversial TPP Deal Finalized.   Big business, Wall Street, mainstream Republicans and the Obama administration have been pushing to wrap up the deal.

National Farmers Union:  
What We Know About the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Agriculture

Organic Consumers Association:  
The Meat Industry Is Licking Its Chops Over Obama's Massive Trade Deal

Sierra Club:  
Far From a ‘Progressive’ Trade Deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Would Harm Our Environment

Steelworkers:  Unless You're a Corporation, Nothing Good Will Come of the Trans Pacific Partnership
​

Teamsters:  Hoffa Says Tenuous TPP Agreement Does Not Listen to Workers' Concerns

Teamsters:  Hoffa: TPP a punch to the gut for US workers
News stories/articles


WkikLeaks:  ISPs to handover copyright infringer details under TPP
​
Controversial Trade Deal Could Thwart Computer Security Research and Tinkering

India drug sector says TPP will raise prices

TPP deal contains some exemptions on temporary foreign workers

The Meat Industry Is Licking Its Chops Over Obama's Massive Trade Deal

Will US Republicans torpedo the TPP?​

Four Reasons Not to Trust the TPP to Save Endangered Animals

How the Trans Pacific Partnership Threatens America's Recent Manufacturing Resurgence
​
Leaked TPP Intellectual Property Chapter Spells Doom for Free Speech Online
​
TPP's Copyright Trap

Corporate Friendly World of the TPP

TPP Terms are Even Worse for U.S. Than NAFTA?

The TPP and the Slow-Motion Motion Corporate Coup - Lori Wallach (Yes! magazine article)

President Obama negotiates NAFTA on Steroids
For the past five years the Obama administration has been negotiating a new "free trade" agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).  The TPP is a massive trade and investment pact being negotiated between the United States, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam Canada, and Mexico.  This will truly be NAFTA ON STEROIDS.

As the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign as noted, "if implemented, the TPP threatens to:
  • offshore jobs, reduce tax bases and increase austerity, while undercutting worker rights globally
  • promote fossil fuel exports and hand corporations new tools for attaching environmental rules
  • further deregulate Wall Street financial institutions
  • prioritize corporate profits over indigenous rights
  • destroy family farmers, force emigration and concentrate global food supplies into fewer hands
  • block access to generic medications and limit freedom and innovation on the Internet."
What they left out are the detrimental effects on democracy this agreement will have.

Secrecy v right to know
This agreement has been called the most secretive and least transparent of all trade agreements to date.  While 600 corporate lobbyists have access to the text and are able to comment on it and influence its writing, US representatives and senators have been barred either from seeing the text or, if they are able to see it, then they cannot comment on it  

Sen Ron Wyden and other senators have called for transparency in the negotiating process. And in June 2012, 132 members of Congress ( 1/3 of Congress) signed a letter, written and circulated by House Democratic Leaders Rosa DeLauro (CT) and George Miller (CA) calling for transparency.  Read the Miller/DeLauro letter here.  They noted in the letter: "If Congress and the public are not informed of the exact terms of the agreement until the conclusion of the process, then any opportunity for meaningful input is lost. A trade agreement that cannot stand up to public scrutiny should not be negotiated in the name of U.S. citizen."

One of the big wins for anti-corporate globalization forces was the defeat of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). With negotiations started in 1995 right after the approval of NAFTA, FTAA was supposed to expanse NAFTA to cover almost all of the western hemisphere.  But the proposed agreements contents were made known.  Opposition throughout the hemisphere was organized and the negotiations were abandoned in 2004 before the expected complete date in 2005.  One key for that defeat was that the text was known.  More on this at Global Exchange.  

This agreement and Fast Track Authority
Almost all past "free trade" agreements have be negotiated, presented to Congress and approved using the Fast Track Authority (FTA) process.  Read more on Fast Track Authority here. President Obama has not had this authority; however, he recently asked and received (June 2015) Fast Track Authority from Congress to expedite these corporate trade agreements through Congress, allowing limited time to debate and no amendments.  Democracy is turned upside-down with Fast Track Authority. 

Oregon US Representative Peter DeFazio talks about the Transpacific Partnership and how 600 corporate lobbyists have access to the text while our elected representatives and senators do not. 

Timeline for TTP passage

​The earliest vote on the TPP, under the Fast Track Authorization enacted by Congress which sets vote requirements for "free" trade agreements for the next 6 years, is that the President must notify Congress of his intent to sign 90 days prior to his signing.  That notification happened on Nov 5th, so the signing will not happen before February 3, 2016.  Fast Track Authorization allows the President to sign prior to action by the Congress, which turns the usual democratic process on its head. Then the President must submit implementing legislation to Congress, which is the changes to American law required by the "free" trade agreement.  Assuming that he is ready to do that on the 91st day, Congress is then given a total of 90 days to approve (or not) the agreement.  That is divided with the House of Representatives having up to 60 days to vote, and if they approve, then the Senate which must vote Yes or No within 30 days. 

More on the time line here. 


More Information

List of corporate lobbyists here.

Websites:
Coalition for Better Trade
Expose the TPP
Green Cabinet Project
Public Citizens - Eyes on Trade
Public Citizen - TPP
Sierra Club

Stop TPP

For effects on

Copyright law -
Public Knowledge
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Public Health -
Hepatitis C drug & generic treatments
TPP & Single Payer Health Care

General -
Public Citizen TPP2012

ISDS decisions

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.