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Obama Admits Defeat; Pacific Rim Trade Deal Trump Opposed Is Dead

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The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, repeatedly denounced during the campaign by President-elect Donald Trump, is dead.

The Obama administration has admitted that it will not pursue its Pacific Rim trade deal, which President Barack Obama had wanted as part of his legacy, during the lame-duck session of Congress that will convene in December.

The 12-nation agreement already faced a rocky road in Congress, but Trump’s election sealed its fate.

“I am going to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” Trump said in June as part of his denunciation of existing trade agreements. “I am going to tell our NAFTA partners that I intend to negotiate the terms of that agreement to get a better deal — by a lot, not just a little, by a lot — for our workers.”

The development is a massive turnaround in a short span of time.

Last week, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman expressed optimism that the administration and congressional Republican leaders could reach agreement on disputed parts of the deal.

“We have worked closely with Congress to resolve outstanding issues and are ready to move forward, but this is a legislative process and it’s up to congressional leaders as to whether and when this moves forward,” said Matt McAlvanah, a spokesman for the office of the U.S. trade representative.

However, after meeting with Trump on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the demise of TPP a foregone conclusion.

“It’s certainly not going to be brought up this year,” McConnell said.

McConnell said any decisions on trade agreements would be up to Trump, who has called the agreement a “disaster” and “a rape of our country.”

Trump advisers Peter Navarro and Alexander Gray touched on Trump’s reasoning in a guest column published in Foreign Policy magazine.

“Trump will never again sacrifice the U.S. economy on the altar of foreign policy by entering into bad trade deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement, allowing China into the World Trade Organization, and passing the proposed TPP,” they wrote.

“These deals only weaken our manufacturing base and ability to defend ourselves and our allies,” the writers added. (For more from the author of “Obama Admits Defeat; Pacific Rim Trade Deal Trump Opposed Is Dead” please click HERE)

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TPP Path to Lame Duck Passage Grows Murky

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U.S. Rep. Candace Miller, R-Mich., released a letter on August 1 signed by five other GOP supporters of the fast track trade authority urging President Obama to not submit the enabling legislation to Congress during a lame duck session.

Calling a “lame duck” consideration of the Trans-Pacific Partnership “an end-run around the American people immediately following an election,” Miller and her colleagues unambiguously opposed moving ahead with the massive trade deal before the next Congress.

The letter asserts, “TPP will set the template for trade for the next generation. It will not only impact the current 12 member nations but also countries like Korea and China that could join in the future. A ‘lame duck’ Congress should not vote on an agreement of this consequence.”

U.S. Reps. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., Ted Yoho, R-Fla., Dave Trott, R-Mich., Bill Shuster, R-Pa. and Tim Murphy, R-Pa., joined Miller on the letter sent to President Obama on August 1.

The letter falls on the heels of U.S. Rep. David Bost, R-Ill., another fast track supporter, announcing his opposition to TPP writing, “Having carefully weighed the pros and cons of this trade agreement, I believe it’s in the best interests of my district to oppose it. We must continue to work to open new markets to our farmers and manufacturers, but it needs to be on an even playing field that has tilted against American workers for too long.”

House Ways and Means Committee member U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y., is another of a growing number of TPA supporters who have announced their opposition to TPP, and former House Speaker John Boehner’s replacement U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, campaigned against passage of the trade deal as a hallmark of his election bid.

In the face of heavy lobbying by the US Chamber and others, the GOP Platform rejected lame duck consideration of TPP writing, “Significant trade agreements should not be rushed or undertaken in a Lame Duck Congress.” U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., was a co-chair of the Committee and opposition to TPP has been growing in her state of North Carolina as details of Obama’s exclusion of the tobacco industry from the benefits of the deal become more public.

The importance of fast track supporters who are walking away from supporting TPP becomes clear when it is remembered that the fast track vote in 2015 suffered an astonishing loss of 54 Republican House members in a bloody battle which largely revolved around the merits of the Asian Pacific trade agreement. The TPA passed by a narrow, 218-211 mark leaving zero margin for error for proponents.

In a related move, the Daily Signal reports that House conservatives are demanding a special conference of the House Republicans in an attempt to deny President Obama one last bite of the government spending apple through passage of a government funding Continuing Resolution that extends until March of 2017, eliminating the need for a lame duck session at all.

The growing opposition amongst the House GOP Conference toward having a lame duck session on any topic combined with the increasing unlikelihood that TPP could pass during the lame duck, leaves House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., boxed in between his corporate donor constituency and the members of his own Conference who will decide if he gets to be Speaker again in 2017. While it is never wise to bet against the K Street donor class, Ryan’s very political survival may depend upon his disappointing them on TPP, and that assumes he isn’t upset in his unexpectedly competitive Republican primary race in Wisconsin against former supporter Paul Nehlen. (For more from the author of “TPP Path to Lame Duck Passage Grows Murky” please click HERE)

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Pacific Union Threat to Sovereignty in 12-Nation Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Deal

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Article 27 of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact could be the beginnings of a Pacific Union — a governing body for implementing the trade agreement styled after the European Commission.

Entitled, “Administrative and Institutional Provisions,” it establishes the Trans-Pacific Partnership Commission that will have the power to promulgate rules pursuant to the agreement, implement those rules, and interpret those rules.

That is, legislative, executive, and judicial powers all wrapped into one unaccountable, multinational commission — with no separation of powers whatsoever.

Think that’s insane?

The commission will be implementing the largest trade agreement in world history regulating about 40 percent of the global economy.

When it comes to amending the agreement or allowing other countries such as China to opt into the agreement, it is not very clear whether that will require votes of Congress.

As noted by Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning in a statement last November, “While the U.S. Trade Representative provided a chapter summary on its final provisions that it would take votes of Congress to amend the agreement and to allow other countries to dock into the agreement, the text of the agreement is not nearly so explicit, leaving significant concerns about how the trade agreement will function and whether U.S. representative democracy will be meaningful in its wake.”

Manning added, “A chapter summary is not the agreement itself. The danger of a runaway commission is too great for this to be ignored.”

President Barack Obama has not yet signed the TPP, even though Congress approved consideration of it under Trade Act of 2015. The law requires that Obama notify Congress at least 90 days prior to signing it, which he has indicated he will.

Meaning, Obama could be signing the agreement any day now.

After Obama signs the agreement, then he has 60 days to provide Congress with a list of required changes to U.S. law to implement the agreement. And, then Congress must consider the agreement on and up or down basis.

But the fact that it has not been signed yet, this late into Obama’s last year of office, could mean that Obama does not want the 60-day window to begin until we’re well into September — meaning Congress would not get to vote on the trade agreement until after the election.

The largest trade deal in world history may end up being approved by a lame duck Congress, composed of defeated and retiring members who are no longer accountable to voters.

In the meantime, both presumptive nominees of the major political parties, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, say they’re against TPP. Opposition to big trade deals that outsource Americans jobs and fail to address currency manipulation overseas has been a major theme in this election campaign.

A poll by Pat Caddell commissioned by Americans for Limited Government found that after being told what was in the agreement, Republicans opposed it 66 percent to 15 percent, Democrats oppose it 44 percent to 30 percent and Independents oppose it 52 percent to 19 percent.

In a cynical sense, then, it makes sense that Obama would seek to insulate members of Congress from the political fallout of an unpopular trade deal by scheduling the vote after the election.

But Obama also must consider the political consequences of signing the TPP on the eve of the election. If both candidates remain opposed, what is the political basis for proceeding? Especially a trade agreement that will create an unelected, transnational commission regulating the world economy without any votes in Congress.

Democrats including Clinton might pay a heavy price in November if Obama tries to sneak TPP across the finish line in a lame duck session of Congress — all to the benefit of Trump. Something to consider as we inch closer to the election. (For more from the author of “Pacific Union Threat to Sovereignty in 12-Nation Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Deal” please click HERE)

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Obama Asks People to Read TPP Deal Themselves

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President Obama on Tuesday morning asked people to make their own judgment about the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact by reading it themselves online.

“Along with the text of the agreement, we’ve posted detailed materials to help explain it,” Obama wrote in an op-ed for Bloomberg. “It’s an unprecedented degree of transparency — and it’s the right thing to do.”

“Not every American will support this deal, and neither will every member of Congress. But I believe that in the end, the American people will see that it is a win for our workers, our businesses and our middle class. And I expect that, after the American people and Congress have an opportunity for months of careful review and consultation, Congress will approve it, and I’ll have the chance to sign it into law,” Obama added.

On Monday, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., tweeted out a picture showing just how hard it might be for the average person to read the deal. His tweet showed a pile of paper about three feet high on his desk.

Still, Obama defended the agreement as one that would grow the U.S. economy and help the middle class. “That’s why I believe the Trans-Pacific Partnership is so important. It’s a trade deal that helps working families get ahead,” he wrote. (Read more from “Obama Asks People to Read TPP Deal Themselves” HERE)

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Ben Carson Backs TPP Deal

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Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said Friday that he supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement negotiated by the White House – aligning himself more with the GOP’s establishment wing than with the social conservatives who have powered his campaign.

Mr. Carson’s backing of the 12-nation Pacific trade deal places him at odds with Donald Trump, his chief rival for support among anti-establishment Republicans. Mr. Carson had expressed skepticism about the TPP, saying in a June interview with the Huffington Post that he would not give President Barack Obama “fast-track” authority to negotiate the deal.

Now, a day after the White House posted the text of the TPP deal online, Mr. Carson’s campaign said Friday that he supports the final product.

Mr. Carson, spokesman Doug Watts said, “believes the agreement does help to level the playing field in key markets and is important to improve our ties to trading partners in Asia as a counterbalance to China’s influence in the region.” Mr. Watts said Mr. Carson is “now inclined to support TPP, with reservations.”

Mr. Carson’s new support for the trade deal comes as the Republican Party’s decades-long support for free trade is splintering. Mr. Trump is leading a wing of anti-trade candidates that includes social conservatives Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who had backed the “fast-track” legislation aimed at expediting TPP approval, backed away from the bill because he said Republicans couldn’t trust Mr. Obama and said approving the deal would open American companies to increased foreign competition and boost illegal immigration. (Read more from “Ben Carson Backs TPP Deal” HERE)

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Wikileaks Release of TPP Deal Text Stokes ‘Freedom of Expression’ Fears

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Wikileaks has released what it claims is the full intellectual property chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the controversial agreement between 12 countries that was signed off on Monday.

TPP was negotiated in secret and details have yet to be published. But critics including Democrat presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, unions and privacy activists have lined up to attack what they have seen of it. Wikileaks’ latest disclosures are unlikely to reassure them.

One chapter appears to give the signatory countries (referred to as “parties”) greater power to stop embarrassing information going public. The treaty would give signatories the ability to curtail legal proceedings if the theft of information is “detrimental to a party’s economic interests, international relations, or national defense or national security” – in other words, presumably, if a trial would cause the information to spread.

A drafter’s note says that every participating country’s individual laws about whistleblowing would still apply.

“The text of the TPP’s intellectual property chapter confirms advocates warnings that this deal poses a grave threat to global freedom of expression and basic access to things like medicine and information,” said Evan Greer, campaign director of internet activist group Fight for the Future. “But the sad part is that no one should be surprised by this. It should have been obvious to anyone observing the process, where appointed government bureaucrats and monopolistic companies were given more access to the text than elected officials and journalists, that this would be the result.” (Read more from “Wikileaks Release of TPP Deal Text Stokes ‘Freedom of Expression’ Fears” HERE)

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Historic Pacific Trade Deal Faces Skeptics in Congress

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Twelve Pacific Rim countries on Monday reached the most ambitious trade pact in a generation, aiming to liberalize commerce in 40 percent of the world’s economy in a deal that faces skepticism from U.S. lawmakers.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact struck in Atlanta after marathon talks could reshape industries, change the cost of products from cheese to cancer treatments and have repercussions for drug companies and automakers.

Tired negotiators worked round the clock over the weekend to settle tough issues such as monopoly rights for new biotech drugs. New Zealand’s demand for greater access for its dairy exports was only settled at 5 a.m. EDT on Monday.

If approved, the TPP pact would cut trade barriers and set common standards for a region stretching from Vietnam to Canada. It would also furnish a legacy-shaping victory for U.S. President Barack Obama, who will further promote the agreement on Tuesday in remarks to business leaders in Washington.

The Obama administration hopes the pact will help the United States increase its influence in East Asia and help counter the rise of China, which is not one of the TPP nations. (Read more from “Historic Pacific Trade Deal Faces Skeptics in Congress” HERE)

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Obama’s TPP Trade Deal Hits the Wall [+video]

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images (70)President Obama’s hopes for a globalist pact integrating economies on four continents ran aground in Hawaii on Friday.

Trade negotiators from 12 nations announced Friday they failed to reach a deal on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, TPP.

TPP would be the largest-ever economic regulatory treaty, encompassing more than 40 percent of the world’s gross domestic product. Secretary of State John Kerry said the pact will merge the U.S. economy with Mexico and ten others nations, including Canada, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Islamic Sultanate of Brunei.

The latest round of talks in Hawaii had been expected to yield an agreement to conclude the TPP. The president pressed Congress to surrender its ability to amend the pact, saying that would enable him to quickly wrap up the negotiations. The House and Senate agreed, and gave President Obama the enhanced power, known as trade promotion authority, after a series of controversial votes in June.

But the president’s promises proved false.

Negotiations stalled when national governments failed to accede to corporatist demands to open their borders and allow “people, goods, capital and information to flow freely through the zone,” as Japanese Trade Minister Akira Amari described TPP’s goals at a news conference Friday evening.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said he agreed with Amari on what “we’ve been trying to achieve in these negotiations” and “the larger exercise here of integrating the Asian Pacific region.”

A key sticking point in the negotiations was pharmaceuticals, reported Associated Press.

Striking a deal over how long to protect data used to develop biologic drugs was described as the biggest source of frustration by a source from a non-U.S. negotiating nation.

U.S. drug manufacturers want 12 years, but Australia wants five. A compromise of seven or eight years is seen as a possible compromise.

“The US was on one side of the issue, while practically every other country were on the other side,” the source told Associated Press.

“Neither side was prepared to move and all claimed it as a red-line issue.”

That proposed pact would integrate the U.S. economy with one of the world’s most notorious slave states, Malaysia, where millions of men women and children are routinely sold into forced labor and the sex trade. WND has reported the administration came under fire for issuing a human rights report that critics say whitewashed Malaysia’s record in order to expedite the TPP negotiations.

The failure to reach an agreement assures TPP will be an issue in next year’s presidential contest. Insurgent candidates Donald Trump on the right and Bernie Sanders on the left oppose the deal, pressing establishment candidates to take a stand on a pact that is deeply unpopular with voters across the political spectrum. (Re-posted with permission from the author, “Obama’s TPP Trade Deal Hits the Wall”, originally appeared HERE)

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New Leak Confirms the Secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership Is a Horror Show

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At a luxury hotel in Maui, representatives from the 12 countries participating in the highly controversial and secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal are negotiating behind closed doors. Thanks to a secret letter from a 2013 meeting, released today by WikiLeaks, we now have a clearer idea of what they’re discussing.

Unsurprisingly, based on what we know about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, so far, the letter is mostly about limiting the power of government in favor of private commercial development.

The TPP is a massive free trade deal that is set to impact everything from the cost of medicine in Australia, to milk production in Canada, to internet governance the world over. The letter was drafted for a ministerial meeting of the TPP countries in early December, 2013, and seeks guidance on key topics relating to the negotiations. Namely, how state-owned enterprises (SOEs) [like telecommunication services and public utilities], should be treated under the trade deal. . . [The letter contends TPP should] require SOEs to “act on the basis of commercial considerations” [and that] governments should regulate both state-owned businesses and private enterprises with impartiality. State-owned businesses would also not be allowed to discriminate against private companies when purchasing or selling goods. . .

A 2013 report from the European Center for Economic Policy Research found that, globally, SOEs included in the Forbes Global 2,000 list of companies had combined sales of $3.6 trillion, about the size of Germany’s GDP. That’s nothing to sniff at. (Read more from “New Leak Confirms the Secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership Is a Horror Show” HERE)

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Wikileaks Nails TPP, Other Trade Agreements for Surrendering National Sovereignty, More

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By Hazel Sheffield. Wikileaks has warned that governments negotiating a far-reaching global service agreement are ‘surrendering a large part of their global sovereignty’ and exacerbating the social inequality of poorer countries in the process.

The Trade in Services Agreement exposed in a 17 document dump by Wikileaks on Thursday relates to ongoing negotiations to lock market liberalisations into global law.

If a country like China wanted to join, it would have to scrap all discriminatory practices against foreign firms – so discrimination against a foreign firm opening a hospital in China would be banned, for example.

Under the agreement, retailers like Zara or Marks & Spencers would have the right to open stores in any of the signing countries and be treated like domestic companies. A nationalised service, such as the British telecoms industry in the eighties, would have to ensure it was not harming competition under these terms.

“Nothing it will do to extend the liberalisation but it locks in those rules in case of a coup d’etat,” Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, director of European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) and a leading author on trade diplomacy, told The Independent. (Read more from “Wikileaks Just Exposed Trade Agreements Like TPP, TTIP for Surrendering National Sovereignty” HERE)

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Trade Supporters Bullish as Vote Nears

By Mike Lillis and Scott Wong. House GOP leaders are expressing a bold new confidence heading into the final stretch of the divisive fight over granting President Obama broad trade powers.

The vote, expected as soon as this week, is likely to be a nail-biter — scores of lawmakers in both parties remain publicly undecided, making the count on both sides difficult to pin down.

But both the White House and GOP leaders say their whipping efforts are paying dividends, with new supporters signing on by the day.

The White House won a victory last week when Reps. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), Don Beyer (Va.) and Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) announced their support. And both Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said that, while they don’t have the votes yet, they expect to very soon.

“If we don’t get it done in June, I don’t know why you’d think we can get it done in July,” said Boehner, who’s been coordinating efforts with the White House and recently spoke with Obama. “We need to get this finished. We’re gonna get it done.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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