Go to the profile of David Piepgrass
David Piepgrass
Reconsidering the foundations of our world; seeking fountains of positive externality.
While some communities have suffered from foreign competition, trade has helped our economy much more than it has hurt. Exports helped lead us out of the recession. American firms that export pay their workers up to 18% more on average than companies that do not, according to a report by my Council of Economic Advisers. So, I will keep pushing for Congress to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership
The way ahead
Pres. Obama (Archives)
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The flaw in this argument is that the Trans-Pacific Partnership is not mainly about trade.

Try Googling for “Public Interest Groups in Favor of the TPP”. No results, right? To the contrary, “1,525 civil society organizations” are on the record opposing the TPP. Those opposed to the TPP have a wide variety of reasons for opposing it, but often those reasons have little to do with trade.

For instance, consider the EFF, which defends your rights on the internet. They’ve been against the TPP since long before the public had heard of it. If you look at the reasons for their opposition, you’ll see nothing about tariffs or taxes or the movement of goods, and a lot about intellectual property law. Copyright laws are already fairly consistent and pro-business worldwide (e.g. due to TRIPS and the Berne Convention), and we all know that intellectual property crosses borders pretty freely. The TPP, though, is trying to force through new rules that increase the benefits of copyright laws to big businesses at the expense of ordinary citizens.

Take a look at another public interest group like Public Citizen and you’ll see a different list of reasons why they oppose it.

The U.S. already does plenty of trade with the other TPP signatories, so there’s no urgent need for a new trade agreement. The TPP was negotiated in secret with plenty of representatives of big business but no input from public-interest groups. Given who was invited to help write the TPP, it’s unsurprising that it’s not in the public’s best interest. The only puzzle is why President Obama continues to support it.