Trans-Pacific Partnership is really about protecting US big business from the China threat, not fair trade
Kevin Rafferty says there's little evidence Obama's transpacific pact will provide big economic gains or jobs for all
Embattled US President Barack Obama won widespread plaudits from mainstream commentators last week for finally getting back his fast-track authority for trade agreements. But there will be a heavy price to pay.
The two trade deals on the table, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which the US is negotiating with Japan and 10 other Pacific rim countries, and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), being negotiated with Europe, are supposedly about enhanced fair trade, business, economics and more jobs for all.
But the TPP, especially, is really about politics with a capital and a small "p" - the Politics of a rivalry with China and the politics of providing opportunities for big American business.
The TTIP is not so far advanced. It is facing vociferous opposition from European opponents, such as John Hilary of War on Want, who said it is "an assault on European and US societies by transnational corporations". Because the TTIP will have to be agreed by all 28 EU governments, the current crisis has moved the timetable back to next year at least.
Obama has openly admitted using the TPP as a weapon. He declared at a Nike factory in Oregon in May: "We have to make sure America writes the rules of the global economy, and we should do it today while our country is in a position of global strength. If we don't write the rules for trade around the world, guess what, China will. And they'll write those rules in a way that gives Chinese workers and businesses the upper hand."
To regain control of fast track, Obama had to alienate his Democratic supporters and get into bed with the Republicans. It means that when the negotiations are finished, the Obama administration will present TPP to Congress, which will then have to accept or reject it without being able to pick at it or change the details. TPP supporters say its members account for 40 per cent of the world economy, so this is a real game-changer. Secretary of State John Kerry quoted "estimates" that it could provide US$77 billion a year in real income and support 650,000 new jobs in the US alone.