Something to consider about the TPP and being num 2.

[CK_John]

We are a country of about 350 million buyers and we are trying(begging) to let our companies do business in a market of 6 billion buyers.

We don't make hardly anything anymore. So who needs who?

We are not writing the terms of TPP we have been handed the best deal we will get from the asian market to let us do business over there.

Why are we in this position and how will we get out of it, is going to take 30 or so yrs and leadership.

But now we need TPP more that they need us.

[msongs]

1. we are the customer, we should set the terms. too bad management is selling out nt

[CK_John]

2. They sold 1 million bicycles in Beijing last month alone, that's like the whole year for Walmart.

Look at the numbers 350 million to 6 billion. We are not a customer, just a whiner pain in the butt that they don't need.

Get real.

[aspirant]

5. Who needs who?

Why do we need global corporatists? Why don't we just buy American built products?

Could it be this is more about currency(money) and controlling what legal tender these 6 billion people use to buy these things? If people start buying things in rubles and Wall Street corps crash, will they come back to these insignificant 350 million pain in the butt Americans to bail them out with trillions or will they go to their loyal customers(6 billion strong) for financial salvation?

[CK_John]

7. There are very little built products, none on a world scale.

[truebluegreen]

3. 600 Billion? Um, no.

I thought it was a typo in your original post, but you repeated it. Last I checked, there are 7-ish billion people on the planet.

[CK_John]

4. Your right, the 11 other countries have about 6 Billion of the world population.

Will correct.

[X_Digger]

6. Fuck the TPP, and the McJobs it would leave behind. n/t

[CK_John]

9. The TPP is about our whining how they treat their workers, the enviroment,

intellectual property, food safety and other regulations.

In others words if we want to do business with them, quit whining.

[Union Scribe]

13. Wow, I just read that on DU.

BTW, the US makes lots of products. The idea we don't is globalist bullshit.

[nationalize the fed]

8. Alan Grayson, who has seen it says

It's about sovereignty

Rep. Alan Grayson: I've Seen The Details And There Is No Reason To Keep TPP Secret

Rep. Alan Grayson has apparently been allowed to see a copy of the latest text of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, and he's mystified about why it's being negotiated in secret. As we've noted in the past, the USTR likes to claim how "transparent" they are because (1) they "listen" to whoever wants to talk and (2) they'll show things to Congress.

Neither of those things are "transparency." Listening to people is great, but transparency is about information flowing in the other direction, from the government to the public. As for showing things to Congress, we've explained how that's not really accurate. Elected officials in Congress can see the text, but they have to go to the USTR, where they can look at the document, but they're not allowed to take notes, make copies or bring any staffers (such as experts on trade or any of the issues in the document) with them.

Grayson apparently took the USTR up on that offer, and he says there's no reason that the text should be secret.

Because of this pressure, the USTR finally let a member of Congress – little ole me, Alan Grayson – actually see the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP is a large, secret trade agreement that is being negotiated with many countries in East Asia and South America.

The TPP is nicknamed “NAFTA on steroids.” Now that I’ve read it, I can see why. I can’t tell you what’s in the agreement, because the U.S. Trade Representative calls it classified. But I can tell you two things about it.

1) There is no national security purpose in keeping this text secret.

2) This agreement hands the sovereignty of our country over to corporate interests.

3) What they can’t afford to tell the American public is that (the rest of this sentence is classified)...

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130622/01545623580/rep-alan-grayson-ive-seen-details-there-is-no-reason-to-keep-tpp-secret.shtml

Do you think future generations will look kindly on those who would sell out their sovereignty for cheap labor in Vietnam?

[RiverLover]

14. That is HUGE. Thanks for posting. nt

[lonestarnot]

15. We've been handing over sovereignty for years now.

[GeorgeGist]

10. NONSENSE.

[CK_John]

12. Because, maybe you need to look at the latest export vs import numbers

Oct 2014 Trade Numbers:

Deficit: $43.4 Billion
Exports: $197.5 Billion
Imports: $241.0 Billion

A lot more coming in per month than sending stuff out. The new reality.

U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services (FT900)

https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/current_press_release/

[Fumesucker]

11. The US has a strong export of things like heavy machinery and chemicals, consumer goods not so much

Also our cars are not that popular outside the US.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/03/14/148460268/what-america-sells-to-the-world

It's a myth that the U.S. doesn't make anything anymore. It's a myth that we don't export anything to the rest of the world.

Yes, we import more than we export. Our trade deficit last year was $558 billion

But we export a lot. Last year, U.S. exports were worth $2.1 trillion. Which raises a simple question: $2.1 trillion worth of what?

Mostly goods. Also, services: