Well, the answer may vary depending on who you ask. For the large majority of Americans who don’t own large pharmaceutical companies or international corporations, the answer will lead many of them to the bathroom. Joking aside, the serious implications regarding the potential for this agreement will be detrimental for working Americans.
The TPP will be, if it is agreed upon, the worlds largest economic trade agreement and will account for over 40 percent of the world’s GDP. This so called free-trade agreement is centered around creating new sets of rules and regulations for pharmaceuticals, patent registration, copyright issues and other facets of the economies for twelve countries on four different continents bordering the Pacific Ocean. The countries include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chili, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam.
Surprisingly enough, this is probably the first you have heard of the TPP. Mainstream media has largely been silent on the topic. What is not shocking at all is the fact that the negotiations have been kept almost entirely secret. Some of the proceedings have leaked out thanks largely to WikiLeaks. What they have revealed to the public is an extension of patent protections for large pharmaceutical companies to prevent rival competitors from creating generic versions of those same drugs at much cheaper costs to the consumer. Simply stated, millions of people would lose access to the cheaper generic drugs they need to survive.
Also mentioned in the leak is the ability for corporations to sue countries in international courts over regulations that are not beneficial to profits. Along with this would be the ability to majorly manipulate environmental and financial rules. All this being done surreptitiously of course, to avoid public outcry. As previously stated mainstream media outlets have largely been mum on the agreement because it would further strengthen their grip on profitable copyrights and content.
Does stifling competition seem like free-trade? It doesn’t look like that to me. In fact it looks like anti free-trade. So, it is not surprising that much of these meetings have been held in secret. But you know who does have access to large portions of the text? You guessed it: large corporations who can then lobby on behalf of their own profit seeking interests, while the population who will be most affected by this agreement, the public, gets no say.
The term itself free-trade would seem to many to be encouraging competition, and restricting monopolistic power. In fact the exact opposite is true. It creates avenues for large corporations to strengthen and broaden their dominance while curtailing the growth of smaller independent companies. It is neither fair nor free and the people most hurt by these dealings are hard-working Americans. Those same Americans lose their jobs because of these agreements and have to figure out ways to stretch the dollars they do have left even further.
President Obama has asked Congress for fast-tracking powers that would prevent the Congressional representatives from making amendments or discussing the agreement. Congress would only be allowed to vote whether or not to pass the treaty. The implications stemming from this would mean that anything agreed upon during these secret TPP meetings could not be changed.
This provides serious problems for working class Americans. Similar to the NAFTA and CAFTA agreements, the TPP will continue to remove jobs in favor of cheaper off-shore options and disrupt our economy. Manufacturing is at the core of creating wealth for nations. It is because manufacturers produce things that can then be sold to create wealth. This is why strong tariffs help protect domestic industries by making it cheaper to buy domestically rather than internationally.
But, these so called free-trade agreements open up borders and make it difficult for domestic manufacturers to compete. Unless you find a cheaper workforce, in many cases this means off-shoring jobs, and leaving hard working Americans jobless. NAFTA and CAFTA alone have accounted for the loss of thousands if not millions of manufacturing jobs in the United States.
The consequences if this treaty is passed will be detrimental to the future of our economy. As college students, we are not looking for manufacturing jobs upon graduation, but we are hopeful to be able to find a job. This may become more difficult than it already is if the government continues to gut the backbone of our economy by means of free-trade agreements.
The real shame here is that regardless of the publicity (or lack thereof) of the TPP, this agreement will most likely be passed and will continue the corporate fascism we here are currently enduring in the United States.
-Mark Siatta