Here's a more complete report. Note the important part that no one
emphasizes, that this is a way of shutting out China.
Nakamura writes: "The United States, Japan and 10 other Pacific Rim nations
reached agreement Monday on the largest free-trade accord in a generation."
Protesters in Atlanta on Thursday called for the Trans-Pacific Partnership
to be rejected. (photo: Paul Handley/AFP/Getty Images)
TPP Finalized
By David Nakamura, Washington Post
05 October 15
The United States, Japan and 10 other Pacific Rim nations reached agreement
Monday on the largest free-trade accord in a generation, an ambitious effort
led by the Obama administration to knit together economies across a vast
region.
The deal capped more than five years of arduous negotiations on a project
central to President Obama's economic agenda and potentially hand him a
legacy-defining victory late in his presidency.
U.S. Trade Representative Michael B. Froman described the pact as "historic
agreement" that addresses economic and international trade "challenges faced
in the 21st century."
The deal "helps define the rules of the road for the Asian-Pacific region"
for decades ahead, he told journalists.
Negotiators spent a feverish week of talks to find consensus on terms for
the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). On Sunday, plans to publicly announce a
deal were delayed several times as the parties wrangled over the technical
details related to market access for dairy products and new-generation
biologic medicines.
"We achieved something that some people thought was unachievable," said
Canada's envoy in the talks, Trade Minister Ed Fast.
Those are just two sections of a sprawling, multiple-chapter pact that
addresses tariff reductions for agriculture and automobiles as well as
intellectual-property rights for pharmaceutical drugs and movies, the free
flow of information on the Internet, wildlife conservation, online commerce
and dispute settlements for multinational corporations.
During the crunch-time talks, the sense of urgency was elevated by political
elections in Canada this month and the United States next year. Opponents of
the deal have staged demonstrations inside and outside a Westin hotel in
Atlanta, where the negotiators are meeting.
The Obama administration has cast the accord as a historic effort to
establish new rules of international commerce among a dozen nations at a
time when evolving technologies are disrupting old industries and creating
new ones. The 12 TPP nations - the others are Australia, Brunei, Chile,
Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam - account for a
combined 40 percent of the world's gross domestic product.
Obama, who announced in 2011 that his administration would take a leading
role in the negotiations, stands to realize a major victory with just over a
year left in office. Initially skeptical of large trade deals when he
entered the White House, Obama came to embrace the Pacific Rim pact as a way
to bolster his strategy of rebalancing U.S. foreign policy toward Asia and
maintaining an economic edge in the face of China's growing clout.
"We can promote growth through trade that meets a higher standard," Obama
said in a speech at the United Nations in New York last week. "And that's
what we're doing through the Trans-Pacific Partnership - a trade agreement
that encompasses nearly 40 percent of the global economy, an agreement that
will open markets while protecting the rights of workers and protecting the
environment that enables development to be sustained."
The president personally intervened in the final days of talks, having phone
conversations with several leaders, including Australian Prime Minister
Malcolm Turnbull. The final sticking points in Atlanta centered on the
length of market protections for an emerging class of pharmaceuticals,
tariffs for dairy products and rules governing how to classify where
automobiles are manufactured.
Even if the deal is completed, Obama's work is not yet done, however. Though
he won new "fast-track" trade powers from Congress in the spring to help
smooth negotiations, the president still must get the final pact ratified by
a vote in Congress, which probably will take place early next year.
Lawmakers will not be allowed to amend or filibuster the TPP deal, but the
vote will come during the presidential primary nominating contests.
Candidates from both parties have lambasted U.S. trade policies as
contributing to a reordering of the American economy that has led to a
growing income gap.
Opponents of the deal, including labor unions, environmental groups and
liberal Democrats, have pledged to mount a final campaign to block the
accord on Capitol Hill. They have criticized the TPP as a regulatory
framework aimed at protecting the interests of large multinational
corporations while doing little to protect worker rights and the
environment. U.S. officials have said that there are chapters in the
agreement with enforceable provisions to do just that.
On Sunday morning, a handful of protesters unfurled a large banner reading
"#StopTPP!" They chanted "TPP is corporate greed. Affordable medicine is
what we need" before being removed from the lobby of the Westin hotel.
The Obama administration "is pursuing policies under extreme secrecy," said
Ilana Solomon, director of responsible trade for the Sierra Club, which has
concerns about the environmental provisions in the deal. "The entire TPP has
been negotiated behind closed doors. .?.?. The lack of dialogue is abysmal."
The TPP represents the largest U.S. trade pact since the North American Free
Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico in 1993. The accord has its roots in
the mid-2000s, when Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore began
discussing a tiny regional trade pact.
The United States first declared an interest in joining the talks in the
final year of the George W. Bush administration, and the negotiations grew
to encompass eight nations. But Obama put a halt on U.S. efforts after
taking office in 2009, amid a global recession.
A year later, Obama notified Congress of his administration's intent to
reenter the talks, and the White House's support helped draw in additional
countries, including Japan, the world's third-largest economy, whose entry
in 2013 helped boost the global scale of the pact.
In all, the 12 nations held more than three dozen negotiating sessions over
the past five years.
Obama's decision to make a concerted push to close the deal this year put
the White House in a rare partnership with Republican leaders to push the
fast-track powers through Congress in the spring. That effort angered much
of his liberal base, but the legislation was approved in June after fierce
political wrangling, passing with broad GOP support and a fraction of
Democrats.
Under the terms of the fast-track legislation, Obama must wait 90 days after
the TPP agreement is completed before he signs it and sends it to Congress
for a vote, and the text of the accord must be made public for at least 60
of those days.
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Protesters in Atlanta on Thursday called for the Trans-Pacific Partnership
to be rejected. (photo: Paul Handley/AFP/Getty Images)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/deal-reached-on-pacific-rim-t
rade-pact/2015/10/05/7c567f00-6b56-11e5-b31c-d80d62b53e28_story.htmlhttp://w
ww.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/deal-reached-on-pacific-rim-trade-pac
t/2015/10/05/7c567f00-6b56-11e5-b31c-d80d62b53e28_story.html
TPP Finalized
By David Nakamura, Washington Post
05 October 15
he United States, Japan and 10 other Pacific Rim nations reached agreement
Monday on the largest free-trade accord in a generation, an ambitious effort
led by the Obama administration to knit together economies across a vast
region.
The deal capped more than five years of arduous negotiations on a project
central to President Obama's economic agenda and potentially hand him a
legacy-defining victory late in his presidency.
U.S. Trade Representative Michael B. Froman described the pact as "historic
agreement" that addresses economic and international trade "challenges faced
in the 21st century."
The deal "helps define the rules of the road for the Asian-Pacific region"
for decades ahead, he told journalists.
Negotiators spent a feverish week of talks to find consensus on terms for
the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). On Sunday, plans to publicly announce a
deal were delayed several times as the parties wrangled over the technical
details related to market access for dairy products and new-generation
biologic medicines.
"We achieved something that some people thought was unachievable," said
Canada's envoy in the talks, Trade Minister Ed Fast.
Those are just two sections of a sprawling, multiple-chapter pact that
addresses tariff reductions for agriculture and automobiles as well as
intellectual-property rights for pharmaceutical drugs and movies, the free
flow of information on the Internet, wildlife conservation, online commerce
and dispute settlements for multinational corporations.
During the crunch-time talks, the sense of urgency was elevated by political
elections in Canada this month and the United States next year. Opponents of
the deal have staged demonstrations inside and outside a Westin hotel in
Atlanta, where the negotiators are meeting.
The Obama administration has cast the accord as a historic effort to
establish new rules of international commerce among a dozen nations at a
time when evolving technologies are disrupting old industries and creating
new ones. The 12 TPP nations - the others are Australia, Brunei, Chile,
Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam - account for a
combined 40 percent of the world's gross domestic product.
Obama, who announced in 2011 that his administration would take a leading
role in the negotiations, stands to realize a major victory with just over a
year left in office. Initially skeptical of large trade deals when he
entered the White House, Obama came to embrace the Pacific Rim pact as a way
to bolster his strategy of rebalancing U.S. foreign policy toward Asia and
maintaining an economic edge in the face of China's growing clout.
"We can promote growth through trade that meets a higher standard," Obama
said in a speech at the United Nations in New York last week. "And that's
what we're doing through the Trans-Pacific Partnership - a trade agreement
that encompasses nearly 40 percent of the global economy, an agreement that
will open markets while protecting the rights of workers and protecting the
environment that enables development to be sustained."
The president personally intervened in the final days of talks, having phone
conversations with several leaders, including Australian Prime Minister
Malcolm Turnbull. The final sticking points in Atlanta centered on the
length of market protections for an emerging class of pharmaceuticals,
tariffs for dairy products and rules governing how to classify where
automobiles are manufactured.
Even if the deal is completed, Obama's work is not yet done, however. Though
he won new "fast-track" trade powers from Congress in the spring to help
smooth negotiations, the president still must get the final pact ratified by
a vote in Congress, which probably will take place early next year.
Lawmakers will not be allowed to amend or filibuster the TPP deal, but the
vote will come during the presidential primary nominating contests.
Candidates from both parties have lambasted U.S. trade policies as
contributing to a reordering of the American economy that has led to a
growing income gap.
Opponents of the deal, including labor unions, environmental groups and
liberal Democrats, have pledged to mount a final campaign to block the
accord on Capitol Hill. They have criticized the TPP as a regulatory
framework aimed at protecting the interests of large multinational
corporations while doing little to protect worker rights and the
environment. U.S. officials have said that there are chapters in the
agreement with enforceable provisions to do just that.
On Sunday morning, a handful of protesters unfurled a large banner reading
"#StopTPP!" They chanted "TPP is corporate greed. Affordable medicine is
what we need" before being removed from the lobby of the Westin hotel.
The Obama administration "is pursuing policies under extreme secrecy," said
Ilana Solomon, director of responsible trade for the Sierra Club, which has
concerns about the environmental provisions in the deal. "The entire TPP has
been negotiated behind closed doors. .?.?. The lack of dialogue is abysmal."
The TPP represents the largest U.S. trade pact since the North American Free
Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico in 1993. The accord has its roots in
the mid-2000s, when Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore began
discussing a tiny regional trade pact.
The United States first declared an interest in joining the talks in the
final year of the George W. Bush administration, and the negotiations grew
to encompass eight nations. But Obama put a halt on U.S. efforts after
taking office in 2009, amid a global recession.
A year later, Obama notified Congress of his administration's intent to
reenter the talks, and the White House's support helped draw in additional
countries, including Japan, the world's third-largest economy, whose entry
in 2013 helped boost the global scale of the pact.
In all, the 12 nations held more than three dozen negotiating sessions over
the past five years.
Obama's decision to make a concerted push to close the deal this year put
the White House in a rare partnership with Republican leaders to push the
fast-track powers through Congress in the spring. That effort angered much
of his liberal base, but the legislation was approved in June after fierce
political wrangling, passing with broad GOP support and a fraction of
Democrats.
Under the terms of the fast-track legislation, Obama must wait 90 days after
the TPP agreement is completed before he signs it and sends it to Congress
for a vote, and the text of the accord must be made public for at least 60
of those days.
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