Courtesy of Mish.
Reader Richard asked me to comment on Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) proposal.
For starters, it’s one complicated mess.
The Washington Post “Wonkblog” said in 2013 here’s Everything You Need to Know About the Trans Pacific Partnership.
If you’re just now hearing about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, don’t worry: It’s not too late to get up to speed. Negotiations over the huge trade agreement — which, when finished, will govern 40 percent of U.S.’ imports and exports — were supposed to wrap up this past weekend in Singapore, but, well, they didn’t quite make that deadline, which means meetings will likely continue into the new year.
The talks, as with all trade agreements, have been conducted largely in secret. Global health advocates, environmentalists, Internet activists and trade unions have deep concerns about what the deal might contain, and are making as much noise as possible in order to influence negotiations before a final version becomes public. Here’s what you need to know.
1. What is the Trans-Pacific Partnership?
Basically, it’s a giant free trade deal between the U.S., Canada, and 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region that’s been under negotiation for nearly a decade now (it began as an agreement between Singapore, Chile, New Zealand and Brunei before the U.S. took the lead in 2009). It’s expected to eliminate tariffs on goods and services, tear down a host of non-tariff barriers and harmonize all sorts of regulations when it’s finished early next year.
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6. Wait, so how much does this thing actually cover?
The treaty has 29 chapters, dealing with everything from financial services to telecommunications to sanitary standards for food. Some parts of it have significant ramifications for countries’ own legal regimes, such as the part about “regulatory coherence,” which encourages countries to set up a mechanism like the U.S.’ own Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs to conduct cost-benefit analyses on new rules. USTR has a rough outline, and for a more comprehensive rundown, read this Congressional Research Service report.
7. That doesn’t tell me much. What are countries still fighting over?
Where to start? Most countries have their own individual issues, and it’s difficult to tell what’s been resolved since the details aren’t public…
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