It’s a deal!! The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, or simply TPPA, which represents the largest U.S. trade pact since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico in 1993, has been agreed upon by 12 nations – Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.

Almost immediately, Obama administration celebrates the finalised deal as if they’ve won the World War III. The president proudly claims that the deal would open new markets for U.S. goods and services. But the public are still confuse, unimpressed and worry due to secrecy that shrouds the deal.

 

The deal is so secretive that American senators who wish to read the 1,000-plus pages of text must do so in a classified soundproof reading room in the basement of the U.S. Capitol building. Prior to access of technical jargon and confusing cross-references encyclopaedia-liked agreement, lawmakers must surrender their cellphones and other mobile devices.

Nobody is allowed to take away any notes, photos, or copies, let alone talk about what he or she read with anyone unless they have “Top Secret” clearance. So, how can rhetoric king Obama claims the deal is good when the contents are guarded with military-grade confidentiality? And how many lawmakers have actually read the TTPA bible before voting for it?

 

In comparison, lawmakers were allowed a copy of the NAFTA entire text during Clinton administration. In fact, it’s easier to access certain CIA documents than TPPA information. Therefore, it’s safe to presume that not all the 60 senators who voted to approve fast-track authority for President Obama about 4-month ago in June, had done so knowing well what they were voted for.

Now that it is finalised, Obama must notifies Congress of the TPPA deal, after which lawmakers  will have 30 days to review it before it is made public. The full text of the agreement must then be made public for at least 60 days. After that, President Obama can sign it.

 

Next, the U.S. International Trade Commission will conduct a full economic review of the deal. The agency has up to 105 days to complete that work. But by then, negotiations are no longer allowed and changes to the language can’t be made any more. What lawmakers can do is to fully approve the deal or reject it in its entirety.

The burning question: is TPPA a good deal with win-win solutions for the 12 Pacific Rim nations who agreed to it? If Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is truly a great business deal negotiator as highlighted in his book – “The Art Of The Deal” – then it’s a screw up deal based on his latest reaction.

 

“The incompetence and dishonesty of the President, his administration and perhaps most disturbing – the Congress of the United States are about to place American jobs and the very livelihoods of Americans at risk … The only entities to benefit from this trade deal will be other countries, particularly China and Japan, and big corporations in America” – said Trump.

How does Trump know it was a a bad deal from the beginning? Trump said that the lack of transparency throughout the secret negotiations should prove that the deal is horrendous. Hate to admit it but what the clown said is true – if this was such a good deal, why was there no transparency?

 

So, if the Americans are not benefitting from this deal, does this mean the other 11 nations would benefit at the expense of United States? Not really. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is facing a tough and rough re-election this month with opposition party declaring it would not be bound by the terms of the deal.

Leaders of Australia and New Zealand are having tough time with a deal they couldn’t explain satisfactory. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak probably is as clueless as the public as to what his country could benefit from the agreement. As one of the countries with little transparency but lots of protection, cronyism, nepotism and corruption, has Najib brought another disaster to the country?

 

Amongst other, TPPA addresses tariff reductions for agriculture and automobiles, as well as intellectual-property rights for movies and pharmaceutical drugs, the free flow of information on the Internet, wildlife conservation, online commerce and dispute settlement practices for multinational corporations.

So, does this mean Malaysia can sell locally-made Proton cars to the United States without the need to meet strict US automotive regulations? If not, then the reverse is true so has Najib administration agreed to slash excise and import duties and makes American cars cheaper locally?

 

Considering US is the largest exporter of pharmaceutical drugs, essentially all the 11 nations would lose out if its pharmaceutical companies are allowed a longer market exclusivity that they already enjoy on genetically engineered drugs. U.S. law allows 12 years of patent-style protections so with TPPA deal, will the same privilege applies, which will make drugs more expensive?

Does TPPA participating leaders, such as Malaysian Najib Razak knows that if his long perceived arrogant government chooses to change laws or other regulations, whenever they like, which could or would affect US big corporations, the US can sue Malaysia for lost profits? Until participating nations can tell their citizens how the working class can benefit from the deal, it’s a BAD deal.

 

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October 6th, 2015 by financetwitter

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