politics

Obama hopes for TPP deal by November

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B. Hussein Obama....

Dream on, Barry.

Stay classy, guys. The world is passing you by.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Fat Chance! Dream on, Barry.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

How about a working holiday visa agreement Mr Obama?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Dr Dillner, the president of the US is only a reflection of the people of the US who elected him. And it is a good reflection.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

B. Hussein Obama is the USA's biggest mistake. The fool should never have been elected President.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

In the real world countries make trade deals and Multinational companies do what ever makes them the biggest profits with the least amount of capital output. These deals from NAFTA to TPP has not created any more jobs than would have been created otherwise; especially low wage no benefits jobs. Most modern countries (American and European) have been outsourcing production and facilities for the past thirty years, all countries want to "protect" their national industries; although the age of neo-colonialism has long been over. The fig leaf of job creation should be seen as the sham it truly is; since the UAW has lost over one million jobs to closed and run away plants to other countries. Even if there is an up tick in jobs due to this NAFTA (TPP) agreement; these jobs are being erased due to robotics; the next person doing "your" job will be a robot.

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@Dissolusioned Please learn about electronics industry. That is why I said "materials and components". The problem with Japanese electronics companies is that they have not gotten out of consumer goods manufacturing nearly soon enough. Consumer good production is going to China etc. Especially companies where the founding families have power, they want their name to appear in every house in the world, so they are too late getting out of consumer goods. Sony is very bad becuase they have only consumer goods. But other companies have strong materials and components. They are succeeding very well (at least their M&C is succeeding). Just look at all the Japanese patents world wide. As soon as they get rid of consumer electronics, they will be very strong. Anyway, they all have tons of money in the bank to hold them over. @sangetsu The treaty itself would have provisions regulating capital flow between partners. But it is reported that it only says "NO restrictions on capital flows". A big danger to the world, and this is just the US wanting to get its way, as usual.

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Mr Obama "hoped" the treaty would be completed by the end of last year, didn't he? But there has been no progress since then, Japan being the main roadblock. I doubt any agreement wll be completed by November unless Japan is removed from the treaty. TPP is simply about free trade, and we all know from long experience that Japan is opposed to any agreement which allows goods to be imported freely into Japan. If Japan cannot allow free trade, then Japan has no business entering into any free trade treaty.

The ironic thing is that free trade would bring about much of the economic reform which Japan desperately needs. But true free trade would wrest power out of the hands of many players in Japan's business lobbies and bureaucracies, and do much to level the economic playing field in Japan.

sangetsu03 -- agree with every word. Japan was late to the game and has simply slowed down what was a process with real momentum towards a deal. What's more, it was basically Obama's decision to take the risk of including Japan for obvious geo-politcial reasons -- better to have Japan in the deal, than allow the country to get aligned with China. Unfortunately, Japan has tried to over-play that leverage to get everything it wants, and give nothing in return. And, as a result, now the U.S. Congress and other forces like agriculture and autos, are pushing back against Japan. So getting any kind of deal past Congress will be more difficult, since Japan has pushed too many hot buttons in the U.S. Shame Japan did not have a big enough perspective to see the upside for them and go into negotaitions with the right attitude, rather than just its usual small mindedness. As you have stated, Japan would have greatly benefited from the TPP, since it would have forced long-overdue structural changes there, which is the "third arrow" in Abe's plan. But now they stand a good chance of getting tossed out.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

TPP does not allow ANY regulation of capital flow.

Who should do the regulating? The governments who cannot even regulate themselves properly? The governments which have not only spent all of the tax revenue they have collected from us, but from our children and grandchildren as well?

If TPP gets our government's sticky, greedy, and incompetent fingers out of the world's economic pie, that is more of a blessing than you might realiize. For evey sleazy banker or businessman you have a right to dislike, there are a hundred more who are honest and hardworking. Too bad the same can't be said about our elected leaders, with whom sleaze and incompetence the norm, and honest service to the people they are supposed to serve the exception.

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Just take Japan out of the TPP nations and you'll have a deal tomorrow. After that have all the TPP members increase tariffs on Japanese goods and push for a stronger Yen again. I don't care if Kobe beef is the best in the world... I'd just like to buy a steak in Japan that will not "cost an arm and a leg".

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

But true free trade would wrest power out of the hands of many players in Japan's business lobbies and bureaucracies, and do much to level the economic playing field in Japan.

Amen to that. gokai_wo_maneku, Japan has either a monopoly or an edge in many areas now. Are you confident that this will continue with tariffs applied to them which are not applied to signatory countries? Certainly, it is a calculated risk - but it is a risk.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Gikai_wo_maneku - Do you seriously believe that? Are you blind to the state of the Japanese economy and the electronics industry? Every major electronics company in Japan is failing and has faced huge losses and huge staff lay offs. Are you also blind to the fact that Japan imports 70% of its food? Are you also blind to the fact that the Japanese government uses your tax money to pay farmers not to grow rice so the government can keep the prices high by not allowing to growers to flood the market? It is narrow minded Japanese people such as yourself that keep Japan a generation behind the rest of the modern world. I bet you have a Carpenters CD somewhere I your house too.

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Japan's strong point is that Japan has a lot of things to trade that only it produces: advanced materials and components. Nobody else can make them and they are required in all electronic gadgets from computers to cell phones to cars to your TV etc etc etc. All that stuff that says Made in China or Made in Korea is full of Japanese M&C. So whether Japan joins the TTP or not (which it should NOT), it has plenty of stuff that the world needs and only it has. Nobody cares about agriculture stuff. Anyone can make that. And don't forget, because of voting disparities, agriculture owns Japanese politicians, as a visit to my rural = agricultural home town last weekend reminded me.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

If anyone wants to know what is likely to show up in the TPP, the recently wiki-leaked Trade in Service Agreement (TISA) provides some clues. Below is a link to an analysis of this until now highly secretive agreement, which is intended to instal the extreme deregulatory financial model of the 1990s.

All these agreements are for the banksters and big corporations and are designed to screw everyone else. That Obama is trying to ram through such an agreement shows his true neo-liberal tendency.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Wikileaks-Analysis-Article-by-Wiki-Leaks-International-Trade-Agreements_Tisa-Trade-In-Services-Agreement-Financial-Service_Wikileaks-140620-619.html

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Good one!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

TPP does not allow ANY regulation of capital flow. That is a recipe for the US Wallstreet to set the world up for another 2007 type global financial disaster, but this time including Asia,. Japan should never join the TPP.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Mr Obama "hoped" the treaty would be completed by the end of last year, didn't he? But there has been no progress since then, Japan being the main roadblock. I doubt any agreement wll be completed by November unless Japan is removed from the treaty. TPP is simply about free trade, and we all know from long experience that Japan is opposed to any agreement which allows goods to be imported freely into Japan. If Japan cannot allow free trade, then Japan has no business entering into any free trade treaty.

The ironic thing is that free trade would bring about much of the economic reform which Japan desperately needs. But true free trade would wrest power out of the hands of many players in Japan's business lobbies and bureaucracies, and do much to level the economic playing field in Japan.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Dreams are free Mr. Obama! The only way Japan will agree is under their own terms so they can protect their price fixing economic culture. However, the markets that Japan wants to protect are the same markets the rest of the TPP countries want open. Therefor, you should just leave Japan in the dark to suffer its own consequences and let the 'modern' countries reap the benefits of open international trade.

3 ( +8 / -5 )

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