U.S. firms urge Washington not to rush landmark trade deal (TPP)

[Recursion]

http://www.porknetwork.com/pork-news/US-firms-urge-Washington-not-to-rush-landmark-trade-deal-226753851.html

After three years of talks, President Barack Obama's administration is making a last push to finalize the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that would establish a free-trade bloc stretching from Vietnam to Chile.

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Major multinationals, such as Wal-Mart and FedEx , have, however, expressed concern that the tight deadline could make U.S. negotiators vulnerable to compromise.

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The United States is under pressure in the talks to scrap import curbs on politically sensitive products such as sugar, dairy items, footwear and clothing.

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Washington, which has touted the deal by saying that 5,000 U.S. jobs are created for every additional $1 billion of exports, could seek to exclude some of the 11 countries to ensure an agreement was reached on time.

[Populist_Prole]

1. Good start on torpedoing this

Ultimately it's obvious they can't push to this public anymore as though they were born yesterday. "Free Trade" is bad and everyone knows it, with the losers far outnumbering the winners. Basically it's going to have to come down to them saying to the hoi-polloi: "You just don't matter anymore" because they can never sell it with their condescending dime store macroeconomics bullshit like they though they always could.

[Recursion]

3. Would we have had the growth we did in the 90s without NAFTA?

Counterfactuals are hard, but NAFTA was passed right before the only wage growth the US has seen in the past 40 years. But then again it's possible NAFTA hurt wages and they would have grown even more without it.

US agriculture usually does very well on trade deals -- as the article points out, the sticking point right now is US favoring of certain agricultural sectors, which other countries don't like. Manufacturing as a whole usually does very well too, which may be why we manufacture more today than at any point in the past. But light labor-based manufacturing does particularly badly. But trade or no, automation is killing jobs incredibly quickly: we manufacture more but with less people doing it.

Trade is complicated and I don't like seeing it reduced to bromides here or anywhere else. Not to mention the fact that offshoring and imports happen regardless of whether there are trade deals or not; these are governments' attempts to have some control over a corporate free-for-all.

[Populist_Prole]

4. Yes, such as it was. And how are wages now with it in full fruition?

NONE of any supposed 90's wage growth ( and I'd sure like to see a breakdown by sectors ) it was from any demand for US made products in Mexico; which was what it's proponents ( shills ) originally touted. You're saying right after NAFTA passed this led to immediate wage growth? No other factors or previous prerequisites? With Mexico we went from a trade surplus ( albeit relatively small ) to a burgeoning trade deficit that climbed and climbed as companies took more and more advantage of free trade treaties, including NAFTA. Since real wages have been falling since the early-mid 80's and we see where we are now where wage disparity is the worst since the robber baron era which matches an inreasing trade deficit accross the board. More is not better: If you lose on every deal you're not going to make up for it in volume.

Don't buy that canard that manufacturing has become less visible due to automation/productivity increases. The actual amount of manufacturing isn't the issue: It's its overall percentage of the economy. Those previously employed have lost their jobs or become underemployed are certainly in no place to provide demand.

Sorry but Third-Way koolaid isn't cutting it anymore. Clinton was a corporatist skunk in the 90's. To his credit he has later admitted he bought the neoliberal trade policy bullshit and was wrong, and I sure would like to take him at his word.

[cali]

2. bwahahaha. yeah, we all fucking know how concerned WalMart is

when it comes to workers rights. We have ample evidence of their avidity to exploit workers- such as apparel workers.

gad, what appalling cynicism.

Oh, and why is there any fucking need for the TPP? We have trade agreements with ALL the countries involved and tariffs are historically low.

Answer: Because this isn't a trade agreement.

duh.

FUCK THE TPP. FUCK THE CORPORATIST DOG SHIT