[CTC] What Was Won in the Trade Battle

Thu Jun 25 06:16:51 PDT 2015

http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/six-ways-tpp-opponents-have-won-fast-track

*Six Ways TPP Opponents Have Won—Even as Fast Track Advances*

 *Sarah Anderson
<http://www.yesmagazine.org/@@also-by?author=Sarah+Anderson>* posted Jun
24, 2015

I tried to stay emotionally distanced from this one. It didn’t work. When
the White House and Republican leaders got the votes they needed in the
Senate to advance “fast track” Trade Promotion Authority on Tuesday, June
23, it was crushing.

All observers agree that fast track will soon become law, making it easier
for President Barack Obama to pass the controversial trade pacts in the
works with Pacific Rim nations and the European Union. That will be a
serious setback to the movements for the environment, labor rights, and
affordable pharmaceuticals, among others.

But after observing painful trade votes for more than 20 years, this one
left me feeling that opponents should be holding their heads higher than
ever before as they regroup for the next phase of the fight. Here are a few
reasons why:

*1. A diverse progressive coalition showed that people power can put up a
real fight against big money.*

The votes on fast track could not have been closer. The House vote was a
razor-thin 218 to 208, while the Senate’s vote to cutoff debate passed
without a single vote to spare.

The opposition included all the regulars from labor, environmental, faith,
immigrant, food safety, and consumer groups. But some newish players also
stepped up, like the Electronic Frontier Foundation on Internet access, as
well as global health, civil rights, and civil liberties groups.

One result was more airtime for trade-related concerns that have been
largely ignored in the past, including the anti-democratic investment rules
<http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/29/why-support-the-tpp-when-it-will-let-foreign-corporations-take-our-democracies-to-court>and
impacts on seafood safety
<http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/fact-sheets/3639/seafood-safety-and-the-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp>
, access to medicines
<http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/article/tpp-trade-deal-will-be-devastating-access-affordable-medicines>,
and climate.
<http://www.sierraclub.org/compass/2015/05/far-progressive-trade-deal-trans-pacific-partnership-would-harm-our-environment>These
new relationships will pay off in future fights. As Leo W. Gerard,
international president of the United Steelworkers, put it, “Progressive
forces have new energy from this fight.”

*2. The battle exposed deep divisions within the United States, empowering
allies in other countries. *

 U.S. Democratic congressional leaders did not roll over for this vote, so
opponents in other countries can now count them on their side. And who
knows what will happen when citizens of other countries, who are likely to
be hard-hit by these deals, see the final text of the agreement?

The example of the Free Trade Area of the Americas is instructive here.
After 11 years of negotiations, those 34-country talks collapsed in 2005.
President George W. Bush had fast-track authority to pass the FTAA, but
that turned out not to matter. In the end, Brazil and other South American
countries refused to give in to the U.S. corporate-driven agenda.

*3. The showdown drove a shift in the discourse.*

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, who in 1993 voted in favor of the
North American Free Trade Agreement, rebuffed intense pressure from
President Obama to support fast track and called for a “new paradigm
<http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/06/15/congress-trade-fast-track-tpa-pelosi-column/71270294/>”
on trade. She called for global engagement that “enables voices from all
aspects of the world's economies to be heard.”

Even former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers,
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/rescuing-the-free-trade-deals/2015/06/14/f10d82c2-1119-11e5-9726-49d6fa26a8c6_story.html>
another
NAFTA promoter, stated that “A reflexive presumption in favor of free trade
should not be used to justify further agreements.” There were also signs of
growing alliances across political lines, with perhaps the most notable
example being a joint op-ed
<http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/238843-special-courts-for-foreign-investors>
by
the libertarian Cato Institute and the progressive Public Citizen.

*4. Labor unions made strong vows to punish pro-fast track Democrats.*
The AFL-CIO and other unions froze campaign contributions
<http://www.wsj.com/articles/unions-to-fight-trade-pact-by-freezing-donations-1426029735>
to
members of Congress starting in March to pressure them to vote the right
way. In the aftermath of Tuesday’s Senate vote, Communications Workers of
America President Chris Shelton said, “for those who opposed the broadest
coalition of Americans ever, we will find and support candidates who will
stand with working families. That’s how we’ll take on the corporate
Democrats who oppose a working family agenda.”

Unions are a critical source of donations and boots on the ground for
electoral campaigns. A strong message that labor support should not be
taken for granted could change the dynamic of the party for years to come.

*5. The strong opposition to Obama’s trade agenda augurs well for other
progressive fights. *

 This battle was not just about fast track. It was a reflection of
increased concern about inequality and the sense that the rules have been
rigged against ordinary Americans in favor of large corporations and the
wealthy. We can build on this in future efforts over taxes, budgets, labor
rights, and other issues.

*6. The demands to see the secret text got some results.*

WikiLeaks made public two
<https://wikileaks.org/tpp-enviro/pressrelease.html> draft
<https://wikileaks.org/tpp/> chapters of the Trans-Pacific Partnership,
giving ammo to the opposition and making many wonder why we were having to
rely on Julian Assange for this information.

While the fast-track bill doesn’t do anywhere near enough to respond to
secrecy concerns, it does require the executive branch to make public the
full text of new trade agreements for 60 days before they are sent to
Congress. Then lawmakers need to wait at least another 30 days before
voting.

In the TPP’s case, this could help stretch out the timeline into the heat
of election season, when Democrats will be even more sensitive to pressure
from their base. As Public Citizen President Robert Weissman noted, “When
the inexcusable and anti-democratic veil of secrecy surrounding the TPP is
finally lifted, and the American people see what is actually in the
agreement, they are going to force their representatives in Washington to
vote that deal down.”

Sarah Anderson
Global Economy Project Director
Institute for Policy Studies
1112 16th Street NW, #600
Washington, DC 20036
direct line:  202 787 5227
email:  sarah at ips-dc.org
twitter:  @Anderson_IPS
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