politics

Pacific rim nations sign TPP deal amid protests

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U.S. President Barack Obama immediately hailed the signing, saying the TPP would give the United States an advantage >>over other leading economies

We have no doubt about it, at the expense of all the others I imagine....

10 ( +10 / -1 )

TPP is bad for citizens of all countries, but good for big business.

In part, get ready for much higher drug prices in Japan if this goes through. The pact will export the strangle hold big pharma has on the industry by making it more difficult for development and sale of generics.

http://www.citizen.org/tpp-public-health

5 ( +9 / -4 )

I see our future more along the lines of "Silent Running" or "'Soyient Green".

Not happy with the TPP going through many people back home feel the same.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Seems like the TPP is all about America needing to let several countries be enslaved in order for them to try to compete with China.

I disagree, I'm expecting the American working class the be the biggest loser in this deal. It will be good for corporate America which is bad for, well, pretty much everybody other than corporate America.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Blade runner is the future

4 ( +5 / -1 )

I can't believe 12 countries are willing to sell out their people for this.

Our last hope is in non-ratification.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

TPP allows America—and not countries like China—to write the rules of the road in the 21st century, which is especially important in a region as dynamic as the Asia-Pacific,”

He called the TPP “a new type of trade deal that puts American workers first.”

“Put simply, TPP will bolster our leadership abroad and support good jobs here at home,” he added.

...and the 11 other countries want to sign up, why? Seems like the TPP is all about America needing to let several countries be enslaved in order for them to try to compete with China.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Haves will have more than the have-nots. TPP will exentuate this truism even more.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Signed,-- but NOT RATIFIED! There may still be hope for democracy!

2 ( +6 / -4 )

New Zealand is acting as the TPP depositary,

Preserving or safekeeping just what? The secrets embedded in the paperwork?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I wont mind the price of food in Japan going down and customers given more choice.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

There is no chance that the US congress will sign off on this deal. So this is really a non-story.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Projecting from current growth rates, by 2030 New Zealand GDP would increase by 47 per cent without TPPA and by 47.9 per cent with it.

Clowns. The family silver for less than 1% GDP in 15 years.

https://tpplegal.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/ep5-economics.pdf

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Its pity not to see Amari signs the deal.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

For Obama to mention China like he did was low-brow and unstatesmanlike.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

...and the 11 other countries want to sign up, why? Seems like the TPP is all about America needing to let several countries be enslaved in order for them to try to compete with China.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the participants from the other 11 countries were saying just about the same talking points. No trade representative for a given country is going to talk-up the benefits for some OTHER country. That's not what they get paid to do. By the way, I really liked the "enslaved" rhetoric. Nice touch of absurdity!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Pretty much implementation is a foregone conclusion. Implementation (after a two-year waiting period) requires only ratification by 6 states, representing 85% of signatories GDP; i.e. the US (62%), Japan (17%) and four others with GDP summing to (6%). Aside from Canada, all the governments waiting to ratify the agreement are the same that negotiated it.

There are only two nations that can derail it: Japan, which has a (albeit only slightly) pro-ratification government; and the US, which according to the 2015 Trade Priorities Act, must have a simple majority up/down vote with no amendments or filibusters, and pro-trade Republicans have control of both chambers.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

nec123a

Not surprising really. The so-what apathetic attitude is why New Zealanders pay more for NZ produced products than people in the UK pay for NZ produced products.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Japan still claims a large number of exemptions - around 380 IIRC, along with some rules that are not expected to be applied for another 16~17 years.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Free trade, open markets, better employment, larger markets, economic growth... yeah.. what a drag - who would be interested in stuff like that? As for the rent-a-crowd malcontents in NZ. I can tell you the mood here is very "so what"?. These people are not representative of the general feeling in NZ at all.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

It seems it's time to move to the Asia-Pacific region, because that one will become a region where people will be able to prosper and live in peace.

It would be even better if both the US and China would somehow manage to refrain from acting like an a**hole in that particular region but sadly this seems to be unlikely with the US probably getting a republican president and the Chinese government currently trying their best to mimic early imperial Japan under the Meiji Emperor (actually if you were to scribble a mustache on Mr. Xi and dress him in different garb he does bear an uncanny similarity to Mutsuhito.... not to mention that some of his speeches makes one wonder whether he is not actually channeling him!).

However, I still consider a conflict in that region to be highly unlikely - there's too much at stake for anyone involved and the general population is mostly highly educated and has refrained from having way too many children. Plus anyone with at least a reminder of a sane mind (and that includes both Xi and Abe) know perfectly well were the real problem in future decades will come from.

Compared to that, the situation looks bleak in Europe. The dimwits here are fighting against TTIP with hands and nails, all the while opening the borders for hordes of MENA invaders into the subcontinent.

Asia, you and everyone living there are really blessed!

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Terrible news. I just want cheap butter now.

-7 ( +4 / -11 )

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