The proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement is encountering opposition from both environmental and labor organizations. This is old news since battle lines between the corporations and labor/environment were drawn March of 2010 when negotiations began.
But what is new is that corporations are backing New Democrat Coalition pro-TPP senate candidates against incumbents who might have doubts about TPP. Is this to insure smooth sailing for treaty ratification?
New Dem, Colleen Hanabusa's primary challenge to pro-environment, pro-labor Senator Brian Schatz is a case in point.
TPP aims to expand the existing 4-country 2005 Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPSEP) to encompass about one-third of the world's trade and include Japan, Canada, Mexico, and the United States in what is currently a 12 country agreement.
Friends of the Earth opposes putting profit before public interest:
The New Democratic Coalition sees no problem with the secrecy, the reduction of labor and environmental regulation and giving the corporations more tools to force governments to bow to their profit agenda.
The Sierra Club issued a press release outlining concerns mirroring those expressed by Friends of the Earth:
A recently leaked draft of the investment chapter reveals that the TPP will likely follow the same flawed model of past agreements which allows foreign corporations to sue government s directly -- for unlimited cash compensation -- over almost any domestic environmental or other law that the corporation believes is hurting its ability to profit.
While typically disagreements over trade are handled between countries, the investment rules set up a different structure for corporations to take advantage of. So-called ‘investor-state cases’ are heard in private and non-transparent tribunals without public comment or participation.
This means that not only do investor - state cases threaten laws designed to protect our health and environment, but they do so in a completely non-transparent manner . To date, corporations such as Exxon Mobil and Dow Chemical have launched than 450 cases against 89 governments. 1 Nearly $675 million has been paid to corporations under U.S. FTAs and bilateral investment treaties , with about 70% of money going to oil, gas, and mining industries.[emph added]
It is unclear that this trade agreement will actually help the U.S. economy rather than just helping the corporations. In March of 2013, Sen Stabenow sent President Obama a
letter signed by 8 senators and 35 House members expressing reservations about TPP
American automobile companies and workers - those at the forefront of today's economic recovery - have been forced to compete for decades on a fundamentally unlevel playing field. Japan's participation in TPP threatens to make matters worse. In an industry with razor-thin profit margins, the elimination of the 2.5 percent car tariff (as well as the 25 percent truck tariff) would be a major benefit to Japan without any gain for a vital American industry, leading to more Japanese imports, less American production, and fewer American jobs
Rep Colleen Hanabusa appears to think that once we get the TPP signed, we'll be
using the military to enforce it:
The challenge in defining what the military will look like for the Pacific region includes the added complexity of the demands put upon our military as the foundation for global security and economic prosperity.
Our nation’s military presence in the Pacific has implications far beyond what we classically think of as defense considerations. As Admiral Robert F. Willard, former PACOM Commander, stated, “Security in all domains — land, air, space, cyberspace and maritime — will be necessary to enable the freedoms of action that are fundamental to global prosperity in this area.” Clearly the role of the military will no longer be simply that of a fighting force, but also one that has a diplomatic and humanitarian face and, as a stated purpose, the enabling of trade and economic growth in the area. [emph added]
Is one of the reasons corporate donors are supporting Hanabusa's challenge to incumbent Sen Schatz the TPP treaty ratification?