Amy Goodman interviews TPP opponents

Truthout published an interview of TPP opponents by Amy Goodman, “NAFTA on Steroids”: Consumer Groups Slam the TPP as 12 Nations Agree to Trade Accord:

The secret 30-chapter text has still not been made public, although sections of draft text have been leaked by WikiLeaks during the negotiations. Congress will have at least 90 days to review the TPP before President Obama can sign it. The Senate granted Obama approval to fast-track the measure and present the agreement to Congress for a yes-or-no vote with no amendments allowed.

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Read the full article here.

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Guardian: TPP negotiations solve pharmaceuticals problem

TPP made an important step forward in protecting pharmaceutical interests, according to the Guardian in TPP trade deadlock: Pacific countries near deal after biotech breakthrough:

The issue has pitted the US, which argued for longer protections, against Australia and five other delegations which said such measures would strain national healthcare budgets and keep life-saving medicines from patients who cannot afford them.

The compromise would preserve Australia’s existing five-year protection period but would also offer flexibility on longer drug monopolies, potentially creating two tracks on future drug pricing within the trading bloc, a person close to the negotiations said.

The terms of that compromise, hammered out after a third all-night round of negotiations between Australia and the US, still had to find support from other nations such as Chile and Peru, other people involved in the talks said.

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Read the full article here.

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Washington Post: Fierce split over next-generation drugs holds up Pacific Rim trade talks

The Washington Post published Fierce split over next-generation drugs holds up Pacific Rim trade talks yesterday:

The largest free-trade and regulatory pact in a generation has been beset by lingering disputes that have left officials fearful that they are running out of time if they don’t close out the pact this weekend.

A fierce divide between the United States and Australia over market exclusivity for the creators of next-generation biologic drugs has stalled the talks, which officials had hoped would be wrapped up already. Differences over market access for dairy exports also remained unresolved, though officials said they were hopeful that could be bridged once the other issue was settled.

Note: We would disagree that this is the largest pact in a generation—there is nothing like TPP with its attempted power to overturn US laws.

But here’s the crux of the pharmaceutical debate:

The main dispute centers on how long pharmaceutical companies will maintain exclusive marketing rights to genetically engineered medicines.

U.S. law provides companies 12 years of protection for the data that underlies the creation of the drugs, preventing other companies from using the initial research to develop similar products that public health advocates said could reduce costs in poorer countries.

U.S. negotiators proposed a compromise period of eight years of market exclusivity in the TPP, while Australia has refused to budge from the five years provided under its own laws.

Read the full article here.

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Ana Tijoux makes a jazzy TPP video, and it’s beautiful

Check out this lovely video by Ana Tijoux, who came to fame as the MC of the Chilean hip-hop group Makiza:

Yup, a cool video about TPP.

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TPP Unlikely to Be a Good Deal for American Workers

Here is some some detailed economic analysis of TPP, and it doesn’t look good for US workers. In “The Trans-Pacific Partnership Is Unlikely to Be a Good Deal for American Workers” the Economic Policy Institute makes several well-documented points. Here’s a sampling:

• Some TPP supporters claim the agreement will be “all gain, no pain” for American workers because U.S. tariffs are already low while trading partners’ tariffs are higher. These arguments are economically incoherent. In fact, studies that show the TPP will increase overall American national income also show that it will cause substantial reshuffling of domestic production away from labor-intensive import-competing sectors. This will clearly inflict damage on large groups (probably the majority) of American workers.
• The wage losses to workers on the wrong end of expanded trade are almost surely larger (in percentage terms) than the estimated net national gains from the TPP. Specifically, if the TPP would indeed boost national income by 0.4 percent while boosting imports and exports by 0.6 percent of GDP by 2025, as a widely cited estimate claims, this would imply a loss to wages of non-college-educated workers of between 0.4 and 0.6 percent.

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Read the full article here.