Seattle City Council votes to oppose TPP/international tribunal

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Seattle's City Council is asking for transparency, debate and possible amendments to the treaty but possibly not, whic begs the question - why are Trans Pacific Partnership supporters afraid of transparency?


Seattle City Council unanimously opposes Trans Pacific Partnership

Mar 30, 2015
Steve Wilhelm
Staff Writer- Puget Sound Business Journal

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The vote, which has no power over the federal trade negotiations, was in favor of a resolution expressing opposition to the proposed 11-nation trade agreement.

Several city council members said they very much support trade, but they oppose an agreement that they contended could compromise Seattle’s strong stance on the environment and workers' rights.

In particular, opponents were concerned multinational corporations would have new legal pathways to go after municipalities and states that pass legislation those companies believe could compromise profits.

“What would happen if a change on minimum wage were decided by an international tribunal?” Council member Kshama Sawant said. “We have seen what NAFTA [North American Free Trade Agreement] has done...we don’t need any more evidence.”

Sawant, who has opposed the TPP, described several scenarios where corporations have used NAFTA and other trade agreements to sue governments around the world, and won.

“I believe the nation is looking at this vote today,” said Council member Nick Licata just before the vote. “We are a port city, this will send a very strong message to Washington, D.C.”

The resolution itself makes it clear the council isn't opposing trade agreements, but rather, the fact that the TPP has been negotiated in secret, and that under expected "fast track" rules, Congress will only be able to vote it up or down and not offer amendments.

"The Seattle City Council opposes 'Fast Track' authority in its current form for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), and instead, urges the president and Congress to conduct a fully transparent and inclusive legislative process for consideration of the TPP," the resolution reads. "The Seattle City Council strongly supports fair trade practices and agreements that protect American jobs, protect workers, protect the environment, include enforceable labor and environmental standards, improve the quality of life in all signatory countries, maintain the integrity and sovereignty of our judicial system, and do not give multinational corporations excessive power to undermine national and local governmental authority to create reasonable rules and regulations."


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US-South Korea Free Trade Agreement Anniversary: Opponents Blast Growth In Trade Deficit, US Job Loss
By Cole Stangler
March 17 2015

Three years after a long-awaited free trade agreement between the United States and South Korea took effect, critics say the deal hasn’t lived up to expectations.

“The administration’s promises that the pact would expand U.S. exports and create American jobs proved to be the opposite of the pact’s actual outcomes,” said a news release from Public Citizen, a consumer rights advocacy group that opposes most aspects of modern free trade agreements.

Since the deal’s implementation, the U.S. trade deficit with South Korea has increased by about $12.7 billion, according to data from the U.S. International Trade Commission. Ben Beachy, research director for Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, says that translates to a net loss of roughly 85,000 U.S. jobs, according to the Obama administration’s own “trade-to-jobs ratio.” In 2010, the Department of Commerce estimated the value of exports needed to create one job at $185,000. By that measure, any substantial decline in net exports translates into job losses.

The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) does not dispute that the trade deficit with South Korea has grown. It says focusing on the deficit alone is an incomplete means of judging the success of the agreement. The USTR celebrated the pact’s anniversary by pointing to the overall increase in trade volume between the two nations, which grew from $126.5 billion in 2011 to $145.2 billion in 2014.

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The last trade deal Obama signed cost the US 85,000 jobs and increased the trade deficit with South Korea by $12.7 billion, Now-----now rightwing/Republicans are trusting Obama to negotiate TPP in secrecy - Triangulation Obama style?

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