Jamee P.

Bell

Trans-Pacific Partnership
Agreement
An analysis of the pending multilateral trade policy

Photo courtesy eff.org

Tarleton State University

Fall 2015

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Jamee P. Bell

Trans-Pacific Partnership
Agreement
History of the Trans-Pacific Partnership
The Trans-Pacific Partnership as we know it, or TPP as it will be referred as of now, began as a
result of the of the 2002 Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership that included only New
Zealand, Chile and Singapore. This was referred to as the Pacific Three until 2005 when Brunei
was included. Prior to United States involvement, the only segments of the agreement
remaining for negation were the financial services and investment chapters which would not be
available for negotiation again until 2008. Then, in 2008, United States became involved in the
negotiations of this partnership once President George W. Bush came to the realization that
inclusion would allow for better competition opportunity in the Asia- Pacific region for the
United States. Never short of expected American leadership, later in 2008 the United States was
not only included in the financial services and investments segment, but would be included in
negotiations regarding the entire agreement. The United States took charge of the negotiations
and became the leader of the discussion as we now know it. In doing so, an invitation to expand
this partnership was offered to Australia, Peru and Vietnam. In 2010, Malaysia and South Korea
were extended an invitation and Malaysia later accepted in 2011. In 2012, Mexico and Canada
also gained entrance into the TPP (Rajamoorthy, 2013.)

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Jamee P. Bell

The Trans-Pacific Partnership today

What is the TPP

The TPP is a multilateral Free Trade Agreement whose main objective is to rewrite the
international laws of trade. The purpose of this is to liberalize international trade by eliminating
tariff and non tariff trade barriers and by harmonizing national policies. For the United States,
the intended outcomes of the TPP are to solidify relationships with our allies, expand Made-inAmerica exports by offering tax incentives, equalizing the marketplace for American jobs and
businesses, as well as incorporate our human rights and ecological values into the agreement
(USTR, 2015.) Other intended outcomes of this trade agreement include intellectual property
protection, greater transparency and anti-corruption measures.

Who is currently involved

Currently, there are twelve countries, which will be referred to as States in the remainder
of the text, that compose the TPP. These States include Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Mexico,
Peru, The United States of America, Vietnam, Chile, Brunei, Singapore, New Zealand and
Japan who is the last to join as of 2013. Though these States have reached a final agreement,
Secretary of State, John Kerry, welcomes any State to join, including Russia and China, whose
objective is also to raise the standards of international trade (Gomez, 2015.) Three States,
including South Korea, Russia and China could still potentially join this trade agreement.

Issues of concern

Although the leadership of this trade agreement exclaim the many benefits that will come
to participatory States, there has been much pushback of its citizens. From Malaysian, Japanese
and American agriculturalists, there is much concern on how the TPP will greatly reduce
agricultural subsidies in the process of reducing trade barriers (Associated Press, 2013.)

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Jamee P. Bell
Other issues of concern include security vulnerabilities, withheld source codes, future regulatory
capacity restriction, allege favoring of large businesses, lack of transparency, restrictive copyright
measures, and that the TPP does not truly favor Made-in-America products or american jobs.

How the political atmosphere is affected

The role of Congress is greatly restricted through a regulatory process that does not
require an additional vote from Congress when fill-in-the-blank policies are named after the fact.
An example of this, as mentioned in the National Review, is the global-warming negotiation that
took place in Paris. According to the article, A Free Traders Argument against TPP,

Regulatory differences are an inhibitor of truly liberal trade but there is a world of

difference between incorporating specific environmental policies and incorporating

environmental policies to be named later
The article continues by saying, Using TPP to commit the United States to whatever is
cooked up in Paris, without an additional vote in Congress, is a poor tradeoff (Williamson,
2015.)

The role of the american judicial process is also greatly undermined by the provisions

that facilitate foreign lawsuits. These provisions allow large corporations to challenge any lawsuit
that would adversely impact their future profits, this including environmentally harmful
companies (Sanders.) In addition to the Congressional restrictions on government regulations,
Even local policy changes could send the government into a United Nations- sanctioned
tribunal (EFF.) This bypasses domestic courts and undermines their entire purpose and
existence.

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Jamee P. Bell
Foreign relations with States whom do not hold membership

Although Russia has declined their invitation to the TPP, the Russian President, Vladimir
Putin has other intentions of establishing an alternative partnership with other Eurasian
Economic Union countries, members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations. His intention through the establishment of this
partnership is to form an economic block to the TPP. This partnership would compose one third
of the world economy. Key players in this partnership that are not included in the TPP (some
States are included in the TPP) in addition to Russia include China, India, Iran, Pakistan,
Indonesia and Thailand (RT, 2015.)

Should the United States accept the Trans-Pacific Partnership

In conclusion, the important question for Americans is if the United States should or
should not accept the TPP. Having researched and read portions of the condensed document, in
addition to the overwhelming distrust of not only Americans but other signatory State citizens as
well, I recommend that this policy not be passed by the United States Congress. Although this
agreement has endured many rounds of negotiations, the secrecy and behind closed doors
creates much skepticism that can be avoided if they were brought to light. The Trans-Pacific
Partnership Agreement needs ratification and stronger negations on behalf of American citizens,
American businessman, and American businesses.

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Jamee P. Bell

Resources

Rajamoorthy, T. (2013, November 10). The Origins and Evolution of the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP). Retrieved December 3, 2015, from http://www.globalresearch.ca/theorigins-and-evolution-of-the-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp/5357495

The Trans-Pacific Partnership @ USTR.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2015, from
https://ustr.gov/tpp/

Gomez, C. (2015, November 4). Secretary John Kerry Invites Russia and China into TPP.
Retrieved December 3, 2015, from http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/foreign-policy/
item/21891-secretary-john-kerry-invites-russia-and-china-into-tpp

Pacific free trade talks stumble, US vows patience. (2013, August 23). Retrieved December
3, 2015, from http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/08/23/pacific-free-trade-talks-stumble-usvows-patience/

Japan's PM Abe says Tokyo will seek to join US-led Pacific trade pact despite farmer
protests. (2013, March 15). Retrieved December 3, 2015, from http://www.foxnews.com/world/
2013/03/15/japan-pm-abe-says-tokyo-will-seek-to-join-us-led-pacific-trade-pact-despite/

Williamson, K. (2015, December 3). A Free Trader's Argument against TPP. Retrieved
December 3, 2015, from http://www.nationalreview.com/article/427911/anti-tpp-free-tradeargument

Sanders, B. (n.d.). THE TRANS-PACIFIC TRADE (TPP) AGREEMENT MUST BE
DEFEATED. Retrieved December 3, 2015, from http://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/thetrans-pacific-trade-tpp-agreement-must-be-defeated?inline=file

Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2015, from https://
www.eff.org/issues/tpp

Putin seeks alliance to rival TPP. (2015, December 4). Retrieved December 6, 2015, from
https://www.rt.com/business/324747-putin-tpp-bloc-russia/

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