Republican U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch said Friday that the Obama administration might have to renegotiate parts of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, the text of which was released Thursday. U.S. Trade Rep. Michael Froman says it was critical for the United States, not China, to write “the rules of the road for trade in the Asia-Pacific region…” It is dense in its detail, laying out plans for the handling of trade in everything from zinc dust to railway sleepers and live eels.
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Now with the 6,000 pages of TPP text laid bare we can finally see for ourselves whether it truly is a “transformational document”, an ambitious agreement, a missed opportunity or a comprehensive sell-out.
The documents show the pact reached October 5 in Atlanta after several years of talks is chock full of good intentions.
The deal also stresses each country’s “right to protect public health and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all”.
Labor unions and environmentalists have criticized the 12-country agreement, citing worries it would cut protections for and add competition to already-stagnating wages and hand more power to multinational corporations.
A few of President Barack Obama’s Democrats have also suggested renegotiating the deal, which must be ratified by Congress and win approval from the other 11 parties to the pact before it takes effect. US lawmakers can’t nitpick the deal with amendments.
But right now, the rules of global trade put our workers, our businesses, and our values at a disadvantage.
But the controversial trade deal’s ratification by Congress is anything but certain.
A year ago USA agricultural exports to Trans-Pacific Partnership countries totaled $63 billion.
The minister said he was not concerned the deal could hit a brick wall in the United States, which is in the grip of presidential elections.
Last month, USA presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton came out against the TPP, saying she was not in favour of what she had learned about it. She joins rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, Martin O’Malley and Bernie Sanders in her stance against the deal.
The trade ministry said joining the TPP would have a positive impact on South Korean companies’ exports and investments and that it has launched a task force to closely analyze the mega-FTA.
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Recent U.S. trade agreements have taken from 12 days, in the case of Oman, to 113 days, for Chile, between the conclusion of negotiations and release of the text.
