[CTC] Some initial statements on TPP deal

Mon Oct 5 06:48:56 PDT 2015

Statements from Ford Motor Company, Senator Sanders, Global Trade Watch, Doctors Without Borders, CTC and USTR...

FORD STATEMENT ON THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP

Note to Editor:  The following is a statement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) from Ziad Ojakli <https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/people/ziad-s--ojakli.html>, Group Vice President for Government and Community Relations:

 <> <>WASHINGTON, DC, October  5, 2015 – “As a top U.S. exporter, Ford supports free trade agreements that result in real market openings and a level playing field for all to compete. 

“Within the U.S. Congress, there is bipartisan consensus that currency manipulation needs to be meaningfully addressed.  This summer, U.S. lawmakers took unprecedented action to set a clear negotiating objective for addressing currency manipulation in all future trade deals.  The TPP fails to meet that test. 

“To ensure the future competitiveness of American manufacturing, we recommend Congress not approve TPP in its current form, and ask the Administration to renegotiate TPP and incorporate strong and enforceable currency rules.   This step is critical to achieving free trade in the 21st century.”

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https://berniesanders.com/press-release/sanders-calls-trade-deal-disastrous/ <https://berniesanders.com/press-release/sanders-calls-trade-deal-disastrous/> 
PRESS RELEASE
Sanders Calls Trade Deal ‘Disastrous’
OCTOBER 5, 2015
Twitter <https://twitter.com/home?status=https://berniesanders.com/press-release/sanders-calls-trade-deal-disastrous/%20via%20%40BernieSanders> Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://berniesanders.com/press-release/sanders-calls-trade-deal-disastrous/> Email Link <mailto:?subject=Sanders%20Calls%20Trade%20Deal%20%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%98Disastrous%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99&body=BURLINGTON,%20Vt.%20%E2%80%93%20U.S.%20Sen.%20Bernie%20Sanders%20issued%20the%20following%20statement%20on%20Monday%20after%20negotiators%20announced%20an%20agreement%20in%20principle%20on%20a%2012-nation%20Pacific%20Rim%20trade%20deal:%20%E2%80%9CI%20am%20disappointed%20but%20not%20surprised%20by%20the%20decision%20to%20move%20forward%20on%20the%20disastrous%20Trans-Pacific%20Partnership%20trade%20agreement%20that%20will%20hurt%20consumers%20and%20cost%20American%20jobs.%20%E2%80%9CWall%20Street%20and%20other%20big%20corporations%20have%20won%20again.%20It%20is%20time%20for%20the%20rest%20of%20us%20to%20stop%20letting%20multi-national%20corporations%20rig%20the%20system%20to%20pad%20their%20profits%20at%20our%20expense.%20%E2%80%9CThis%20agreement%20follows%20failed%20trade%20deals%20with%20Mexico,%20China%20and%20other%20low-wage%20countries%20that%20%E2%80%A6%20Read%20more%20about%20it%20https://berniesanders.com/press-release/sanders-calls-trade-deal-disastrous/>
BURLINGTON, Vt. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders issued the following statement on Monday after negotiators announced an agreement in principle on a 12-nation Pacific Rim trade deal:

“I am disappointed but not surprised by the decision to move forward on the disastrous Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement that will hurt consumers and cost American jobs.

“Wall Street and other big corporations have won again. It is time for the rest of us to stop letting multi-national corporations rig the system to pad their profits at our expense.

“This agreement follows failed trade deals with Mexico, China and other low-wage countries that have cost millions of jobs and shuttered tens of thousands of factories across the United States.

“In the Senate, I will do all that I can to defeat this agreement. We need trade policies that benefit American workers and consumers, not just the CEOs of large multi-national corporations.”

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If There Really Is a Final TPP Deal: Can It Pass Congress? When Does Congress Get to See a Final Text?

Statement of Lori Wallach, Director, Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch

If there really is a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal, its fate in Congress is highly uncertain given the narrow margin by which trade authority passed this summer, the concessions made to get a deal, and growing congressional and public concerns about the TPP’s threats to jobs, wages, safe food and affordable medicines and more. The intense national battle over trade authority was just a preview of the massive opposition the TPP will face given that Democratic and GOP members of Congress and the public soon will be able to see the specific TPP terms that threaten their interests.

With congressional opposition to TPP growing and the Obama administration basically up against elections cycles in various countries, this ministerial was extended repeatedly because this was the do or die time but it’s unclear if there really is a deal or this is kabuki theatre intended to create a sense of inevitability so as to insulate the TPP from growing opposition.

Ten U.S. presidential candidates have pushed anti-TPP messages in their campaigning, stoking U.S. voters’ ire about the pact. Democratic candidate Senator Bernie Sanders has repeatedly said that “The TPP must be defeated <http://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/the-trans-pacific-trade-tpp-agreement-must-be-defeated?inline=file>.” GOP frontrunner Donald Trump also has repeatedly slammed the TPP, stating “It’s a horrible deal for the United States and it should not pass <http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/05/08/exclusive-donald-trump-disaster-trade-deal-empowers-americas-enemies-another-sign-country-is-going-to-hell/>.” The Canadian national election outcome could also rock the TPP talks, as Conservative Prime Minister Harper’s political opponents have taken critical views of his approach to TPP.

If there really is a deal, its fate in Congress is at best uncertain given that since the trade authority vote, the small bloc of Democrats who made the narrow margin of passage have made demands about TPP currency, drug patent and environmental terms that are likely not in the final deal, while the GOP members who switched to supporting Fast Track in the last weeks demand enforceable currency terms, stricter rules of origin for autos, auto parts and apparel, and better dairy access for U.S. producers. 

The TPP’s prospects will be even worse if the Administration announces a deal today but then does not actually have a final text to provide Congress. There is intense controversy in many TPP countries about the pacts’ threats to jobs, affordable medicine, safe food and more.

Useful Resources 
·       The Fast Track timeline for a U.S. congressional vote on the TPP: As this memo <http://www.citizen.org/documents/TPP-vote-calendar.pdf> explains, under the Fast Track bill, various congressional notice and report filing requirements add up to about four and one half months between notice of a final deal and congressional votes being taken. Even if all of the timelines are fudged by the 90-day notice to Congress before signing, a TPP vote cannot occur in 2015. 

·       Congressional Letters Raising Doubts on the TPP’s Congressional Prospects: On Sept. 25, 160 House GOP and Democrats sent a letter <https://debbiedingell.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/advance-weekend-tpp-negotiations-bipartisan-group-158-representatives>to Obama demanding enforceable currency disciplines in the TPP. While building that level of support required months when a similar letter was sent in 2013, this letter was in circulation for only a week, starting when the TPP Atlanta ministerial was announced. Meanwhile, at the end of the summer, 19 pro-Fast Track Democrats sent a letter <http://blumenauer.house.gov/images/pdf/072915_letter_TPP.pdf> laying out necessary environmental terms for an acceptable deal, and 18 pro-Fast Track Democrats sent a letter <http://blumenauer.house.gov/images/pdf/072815_letter_ustr.compressed1.pdf> about lack of enforcement in current and future trade agreements and demanding action against Peru for violations of environmental terms in its bilateral U.S. trade deal. Twelve Democrats who supported Fast Track and 12 GOP members were among the 160 representatives signing a letter <http://democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/press-release/160-members-congress-call-state-department-not-upgrade-malaysia-ranking-2015> decrying Malaysia’s inclusion in the TPP and the upgrade of Malaysia’s human trafficking status. During this week’s negotiations, the top Republican and Democrat leaders on trade in the House and Senate sent a letter <http://www.citizen.org/documents/letter-ryan-tpp-september-2015.pdf> expressing frustration at the lack of coordination and consultation between USTR and Congress on the remaining issues of the negotiation, and 25 pro-Fast Track Republicans and Democrats from dairy districts sent a letter <http://www.citizen.org/documents/letter-dairy-state-lawmakers-october-2015.pdf> expressing their concern that a final deal would not meet their goal for improved dairy market access in Canada and Japan.

·       Polling: As this memo <http://www.citizen.org/documents/polling-memo.pdf> shows, recent polling reveals broad U.S. public opposition to more-of-the-same trade deals among Independents, Republicans and Democrats. While Americans support trade, they do not support an expansion of status quo trade policies, complicating the push for the TPP. Furthermore, recent Pew polls <http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/07/21/work-moves-ahead-on-tpp-trade-pact-but-nations-still-divided-over-deal/> in many of the TPP nations show that, outside Vietnam, the deal does not have strong support. 

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Statement by Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières on the conclusion of TPP negotiations in Atlanta 

MSF expresses its dismay that TPP countries have agreed to United States government and multinational drug company demands that will raise the price of medicines for millions by unnecessarily extending monopolies and further delaying price-lowering generic competition. The big losers in the TPP are patients and treatment providers in developing countries.  Although the text has improved over the initial demands, the TPP will still go down in history as the worst trade agreement for access to medicines in developing countries, which will be forced to change their laws to incorporate abusive intellectual property protections for pharmaceutical companies. For example, the additional monopoly protection provided for biologic drugs will be a new regime for all TPP developing countries.  These countries will pay a heavy price in the decades to come that will be measured in the impact it has on patients.  As the trade agreement now goes back to the national level for countries's final approval, we urge all governments to carefully consider before they sign on the dotted line whether this is the direction they want to take on access to affordable medicines and the promotion of biomedical innovation. The negative impact of the TPP on public health will be enormous, be felt for years to come and it will not be limited to the current 12 TPP countries, as it a dangerous blueprint for future agreements.
Judit Rius Sanjuan, US Manager & Legal Policy Adviser, MSF Access Campaign     

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Statement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
by Arthur Stamoulis, Executive Director, Citizens Trade Campaign

This morning, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, along with other trade ministers from throughout the Pacific Rim, announced a deal on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — a trade and investment pact that would set rules governing approximately forty percent of the global economy.  Citizens Trade Campaign’s executive director Arthur Stamoulis released the following statement in response:

Whatever deal trade ministers struck behind closed doors, the TPP continues to face serious trouble in Congress.  Put simply, the political clock has run out for this pact.  Heading into 2016 and beyond, Congress members know that American voters are not going to accept a massive trade agreement with undemocratic countries that offshores jobs and drives down wages.  

For the better part of a decade, Americans have been telling the administration what sorts of provisions the TPP would need to ensure it benefits working families, instead of just corporate profits.  Over all that time, negotiators have granted hundreds of well-connected corporate lobbyists access to TPP texts, but have refused to tell the American people what they’ve been proposing in our names.  As such, we’ve had corporations guiding secret negotiations with human rights violators like Malaysia, where millions are victims of human trafficking, and Vietnam, where you can go to jail for requesting better working conditions — while the American people have been shut out of the process.  

Now that a deal has reportedly been agreed upon, Congress should insist that it and the public receive immediate access to any and all TPP text.

The benchmarks Congress will now have to consider include: Does the TPP include labor and environmental standards, rules of origin and currency safeguards strong enough to protect human rights abroad and good-quality jobs here at home — or will the pact ship jobs overseas and reduce wages for American workers?  Does it establish a floor, rather than a ceiling, when it comes to food and product safety — or will it expand imports from countries where food is often found to contain banned toxic chemicals?  Does it make medicine more affordable — or will it increase the price of prescription drugs for seniors, veterans and others by enabling big pharmaceutical companies to prevent the sale of life-saving generic medications?

Leaked texts, and the TPP negotiating process itself, suggest the public is going to be unhappy with the answers to those questions.  Americans have consistently demanded a “fair deal or no deal” on trans-Pacific trade.  Given that the completed TPP agreement is unlikely to be fair to anyone but CEOs and Wall Street executives, expect a tidal wave of voters to demand “no deal."

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Citizens Trade Campaign is a national coalition of labor, environmental, family farm, consumer and faith organizations working to improve U.S. trade policy.

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https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2015/october/trans-pacific-partnership-ministers

Trans-Pacific Partnership Ministers’ Statement
We, the trade ministers of Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States, and Vietnam, are pleased to announce that we have successfully concluded the Trans-Pacific Partnership. After more than five years of intensive negotiations, we have come to an agreement that will support jobs, drive sustainable growth, foster inclusive development, and promote innovation across the Asia-Pacific region. Most importantly, the agreement achieves the goal we set forth of an ambitious, comprehensive, high standard and balanced agreement that will benefit our nation’s citizens.

TPP brings higher standards to nearly 40 percent of the global economy. In addition to liberalizing trade and investment between us, the agreement addresses the challenges our stakeholders face in the 21st century, while taking into account the diversity of our levels of development.  We expect this historic agreement to promote economic growth, support higher-paying jobs; enhance innovation, productivity and competitiveness; raise living standards; reduce poverty in our countries; and to promote transparency, good governance, and strong labor and environmental protections.

To formalize the outcomes of the agreement, negotiators will continue technical work to prepare a complete text for public release, including the legal review, translation, and drafting and verification of the text.  We look forward to engaging with stakeholders on the specific features of this agreement and undergoing the domestic processes to put the agreement in place.
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