Category Archives: TPP

The TPP and State Sovereignty: A Toothless Preamble, Weak Code of Conduct, Secret Proceedings, and a Tobacco Carve-Out That Might Not Carve Out

TPP’s ISDS chapter is far worse than you would think, given press coverage.

Full Text of TPP, Including Annexes, and Boy is it Nasty

Yes, sports fans, the TPP is as bad as you feared it might be….

Don Quijones: US Threatens UK over Brexit Vote

The spectacle of the US attempting to influence UK domestic politics through having the US Trade Representative Michael Froman issue a threat is pathetic, overreaching, and unconvincing.

TPP Teeters in US Congress

More and more Republicans look to be girding their loins to fight approval of the TPP. And it’s not as if Dems are all that keen either.

Trading Away Land Rights: TPP, Investment Agreements, and the Governance of Land

The nvestment provisions in the TPP and in most bilateral investment treaties can severely limit a government’s ability to manage its land and other natural resources in the public interest.

Gaius Publius: Slave Trafficking, TPP & the 2016 Presidential Contest

Progressives have been handed a wonderful opportunity to make a “strong move” against both TPP and slave trafficking — but only if they’re willing to take it.

TPP Intellectual Property Chapter is “A Disaster for Global Health”

Yet another damming take on the TPP.

Clinton Outdoes Tsipras in Kolotoumbas with Her Reversals on TPP, Bank Regulations

The big problem with Hillary is it is hard to believe she stands for anything other than her desire to exercise power. Her latest bout of opportunism only reinforces that notion.

Full Translation of Japanese Government’s Summary of the TPP

Now you can read a translation of the Japanese government’s summary of the TPP.

Why Japan Did America’s Dirty Work in the TPP: USTR Gave Away the Agricultural Store

US caves to Japan on “beef.” But did they really cave?

TPP: It’s Not a Deal, It’s Not a Trade Deal, and It’s Not a Done Deal

We don’t have the TPP text, ISDS is just as bad as it’s always been, and deals like this have been beaten before.

Who Needs Balanced Trade? Who Needs Balanced Budgets?

Who needs balanced trade? It’s time to challenge the premises of “trade” deals like the TransPacific Partnership.

IBM Lobbyist Planted Question From USTR Official at a 2013 Public Hearing

A couple weeks back, the Electronic Frontier Foundation released 124 pages of emails obtained in a FOIA request, asking for any communications between officials at the U.S. Trade Representative’s office and corporate lobbyists. The emails are mostly requests to set up meetings or share information between USTR leadership and representatives from either trade associations (The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Telecommunications Industry Association, Coalition of Services Industries, etc) or corporations directly (Cigna, General Electric, Liberty Mutual Insurance, MasterCard, AT&T, etc).

But Steve Stewart, Director of Market Access and Trade for IBM Governmental Programs – in other words, IBM’s in-house lobbying shop – takes this relationship-building a step further. He enlisted USTR to help him get his company’s narrative out.