“This is the largest multi-lateral trade agreement of its kind”, Vilsack says, “the 12 countries that are part of this trade agreement represent 40 percent of the world’s economy”.
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The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade deal could bolster trade and investment relations in the Pacific region, Jens Nagel, director general of the German Foreign Trade Association of German Retail Trade (AVE), told Sputnik on Tuesday.
“To diversify its trade channels, China is willing to jointly promote the building of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, strengthen interconnectivity cooperation and push for closer integration in the Asia-Pacific region”, said Liu.
“We have seen a lot of media spin about the benefits of the TPP, but we have not yet seen the text after more than five years of secret negotiations”, she added.
RCEP, which comprises the 10-nation ASEAN club plus six others – China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand – is a Beijing-backed trade framework that has gained prominence as an alternative to US plans. The flow of the 2016 presidential campaign and the questions emerging in it make clear that economic inequality will be a key issue in the choice of the country’s next leader. The story in the United States is more complicated, with Obama’s own Democratic party largely opposing the deal on account of their perception that the TPP would harm US workers and interests.
At the American Farm Bureau Federation, president Bob Stallman said: “The Trans-Pacific Partnership has promised to open restricted markets for American business around the Pacific Rim”.
A broad coalition of workers, environmental organizations, consumer groups, people of faith, students, immigrant rights groups and many others has been fighting against this flawed trade deal.
There are few votes in Congress that could as easily increase both exports and GDP by that much.
He called Monday’s completion of the TPP an “important step forward” and acknowledged that “there’s going to be a long, healthy process of discussion and consultation and debate before this ever comes to an actual vote”, during a briefing at the Agriculture Department.
It’s good that the critics lost the fast-track debate in Congress; but it’s not bad we had that debate, because it helped USA negotiators identify areas of legitimate concern and, accordingly, areas where the deal could incorporate those concerns.
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In secret negotiations, Big Pharma has sought 12- and then eight-year patent monopolies on biologic medicines, or pharmaceuticals derived from living organisms. Lawmakers have until April to debate the deal.
