The Last Word
Building Understanding About the TPP

Building Understanding About the TPP

The emergence of the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a major issue in the presidential race is contributiong to the public's understanding about this issue. But let’s not overlook the fact that the fight against ObamaTrade may also be contributing to the positions taken by the presidential aspirants. ...
Gary Benoit

Long before many Americans were aware of the Obama administration-negotiated Trans-Pacific Partnership, much less concerned about it, The New American devoted an entire issue of the magazine (our September 2, 2013 issue) to sounding the alarm about the TPP and other mega trade deals. Such deals are often referred to, approvingly, as “free trade.” Yet, as we wrote in 2013, “the free trade agenda is not about creating genuine free trade (which would mean almost no government involvement), and it is not confined to the issue of trade; it is instead about transferring political and economic power to regional arrangements as steppingstones to global governance under the guise of free trade.”

When we offered that assessment, the full text of the TPP agreement, which was still being negotiated, had not yet been released. Its release last November, together with other recent evidence, has strengthened our case against the TPP and other elements of what has become known as ObamaTrade. But evidence does not change minds unless it is presented, and the ongoing publication efforts of this magazine, together with the grassroots efforts of this magazine’s parent organization, The John Birch Society, have had much to do with creating awareness of, and building resistance to, the TPP in particular and ObamaTrade in general.

Another important development contributing to public awareness of the TPP has been the emergence of the TPP as a major issue in the presidential race, where the leading Democrat contenders (Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders) and the two leading GOP contenders (Donald Trump and Ted Cruz) have all criticized the TPP. That criticism, of course, is contributing to the fight against ObamaTrade. But let’s not overlook the fact that the fight against ObamaTrade may also be contributing to the positions taken by the presidential aspirants.

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