Obama promised he would renegotiate NAFTA; TPP terms even worse for U.S. jobs and wages

[HomerRamone]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/dave-johnson/63817/tpp-terms-are-even-worse-for-u-s-than-nafta

So how is this “renegotiation of NAFTA” going? TPP is secret, but we do know some things from leaks and the things we are learning are not good at all. For example, it appears that the U.S. auto and auto parts industry – and the workers in those industries – will be hit hard.

Under NAFTA 62.5 percent of the value of cars and 60 percent of auto parts must be made in NAFTA countries, or a tariff will apply. But for TPP the U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman appears to have made a deal saying only 45 percent for cars and 30 percent for parts need to be made in TPP countries – the rest of that business goes to China and other non-TPP, low-wage, low-labor-standards and low-environmental-protection countries. The result will be a huge shift of jobs and business away from American, Mexican and Canadian auto and parts makers...

Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) sent a letter to Froman saying that auto rules-of-origin in the North American Free Trade Agreement should be the “starting point” for the TPP. In other words, they say make TPP better than 62.5 and 60, not much, much worse.

Something we still do in the U.S. is being negotiated away so that executives can pocket even more of those lost wages for themselves. NAFTA hit us hard; now it looks like TPP will hit us much, much harder. Call your member of Congress and your Senators and tell them you want TPP to be tougher than NAFTA for U.S. workers and industries, not weaker. (And while you are on the phone, ask them why this stuff is all secret and we have to find out about these things from leaks?)

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. I can see why both Senators from Ohio are against it.

That will further crush parts of Ohio that are dependent on jobs from manufacturing car parts as part of the Detroit supply chain. Good way to totally screw over Ohio, and a good way to piss off voters and lose the state for Dems electorally.

[INdemo]

2. Ya, like our Congressmen and Senators are going to open up

and tell their constituents when they are paid to keep those secrets by the corporate mafia.
Democrats and Republicans alike are pushing this TPP and we have nothing to say about this or no way to stop it.

[pa28]

3. And let's not forget TPP also expands the scope of protected investments to derivatives.

NAFTA limited the definition of an investment to money directly connected with an enterprise. Under TPP banking interests without actual cash investments working in a country like Chile could sue for losses on side bets. Banks or corporations could claim losses on their derivative books if new environmental laws caused the price of copper to rise (for example).

From the leaked TPP investment chapter. This is exactly the same passage from NAFTA with the derivatives language from "re-negotiation" tacked on at the end.

Investment means every asset that an investor owns or controls, directly or indirectly, that
has the characteristics of an investment, including such characteristics as the commitment
of capital or other resources, the expectation of gain or profit, or the assumption of risk.
Forms that an investment may take include:
(a) an enterprise;
(b) shares, stock and other forms of equity participation in an enterprise;
(c) bonds, debentures, other debt instruments, and loans;23
(d) futures, options and other derivatives;

https://wikileaks.org/tpp-investment/WikiLeaks-TPP-Investment-Chapter.pdf

[MisterP]

4. no, he's the most pro-worker president in history and we are blessed by His presence!

thanks for reminding everyone this isn't dead--it's like how everything in the Patriot Act was written down by '98 and they were just waiting for a new Pearl Harbor to finally get everything signed into law; this isn't about LIHOP at all--9-11 was almost secondary to the project of total control and invading Iraq; it could've been a dam break

(OT, but I always giggle when a glassy-eyed chanter who says they don't care about the facts say Sanderinistas are a "personality cult&quot

[Hoyt]

5. I'd find a better source than Dave Johnson. His experience is computer games and he is often wrong

about TPP.

[msongs]

6. post a complete copy of it on the internet and we can read it for ourselves. oh wait.... nt

[Hoyt]

9. You will get your chance well before Congress consider it, assuming it's ever finalized.

My bet, 95+% of folks saying that, still won't read it, much less understand what it means long-term.

[HomerRamone]

7. You've criticized him for writing computer games on a post of mine before

He's been following and writing (well, in my opinion) about politics for more than a decade. What careers in your estimation do not disqualify one from criticizing Obama about "trade" (really corporate sovereignty over governments)?

[Hoyt]

8. Fine, show us a quote from Froman that he is supporting what Johnson says, even though American auto

companies - some of the same companies that supposedly wrote the TPP according to those who criticize the "secrecy," but seem to know everything about it -- are the ones who would be hurt if Japan gets what it wants.

Johnson was also one of those who spread the BS that the agreement would not be seen for 4 years after ratified. And he's still spreading junk some people are too quick to believe, an/or too lazy to look into facts.

[HomerRamone]

10. Froman "appears" to have made a deal

and are you sure American auto "companies" would be hurt, as opposed to their domestic labor?

http://www.law360.com/articles/695748/afl-cio-questions-if-tpp-will-protect-us-auto-jobs

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a Friday letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman that he’s concerned, after reading reports that American negotiators have struck a deal with Japan for an origin level of 45 percent for automobiles and 30 percent for auto parts, that Washington, D.C., isn’t doing enough to protect American interests...

Trumka said he’s especially concerned about what the trade representative is doing for American interests after hearing that Canadian and Mexican negotiators are holding out for rules of origin of no less than 50 percent within signatory countries...

Trumka also raised concerns about the lack of transparency in the TPP negotiations.

He said he understands that calculating the rule of origin is complex and that numerous methodologies can be employed but that he’s unsatisfied with the incomplete information he’s received about the U.S.'s negotiating position despite his security clearance as a member of the Labor Advisory Committee on Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy.

“Due to the unaccountable lack of transparency from USTR, absolutely crucial decisions are being made without our input or voice. Thousands of good American jobs and an iconic American industry are at risk, and we don’t even know what our government’s negotiating position is or what it is based on,” Trumka said.

"those who criticize the secrecy [of the TPP], but seem to know everything about it" got their info because some good patriotic people had to LEAK its contents and you know that. This is perhaps why some thought "the agreement would not be seen for 4 years after ratified" when actually it is the texts of the negotiations...

[Hoyt]

11. Yes, the American auto companies would be hurt because foreign autos would be cheaper here.

Fact is, Johnson does not know what he is talking about. He gets away with it because the people who buy his BS don't know either, and won't look it up.

If Trumka is right, then American auto companies did not get what they wanted. Therefore, they obviously didn't write the agreement as we were led to believe by Sanders, Warren, Johnson, etc.

Obviously, Trumka and others are getting input. They might not get what they want, but they have input and did from the start.

Do you expect the trade reps to call you for your opinion?

[HomerRamone]

12. Wouldn't American autos also be cheaper with more parts and labor coming from lower wage countries?

I assume you have heard of offshoring, "so that executives can pocket even more of those lost wages for themselves", in Johnson's words.

I don't expect the trade reps to call me, but I and many others also don't like secrecy until take-it-or-leave-it Fast Track bullshit...

[Hoyt]

13. Higher taxes could help in that respect. Personally, I don't care if corporations do well, as long

as they are taxed accordingly. Mom and pop companies aren't going to provide the tax revenue we need for the future.

The TPP has not been a take-it-or-leave-it process. Honestly, I wish the world were not changing so much. But it is, and things like the TPP give us some flexibility in the future, that trying to protect things that were good to us in the past do not.