No Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement
The Obama administration's Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, is currently involved in negotiations to complete a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement with the following nations: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. Representatives of the United States and these ten other nations will meet in Auckland, New Zealand, during December 3-12, 2012, for the 15th round of TPP negotiations.
Free trade agreement? How could anyone be opposed to a free trade agreement? The answer, very simply, is that economic integration is always followed by political integration. Is economic integration the initial goal of the TPP? Indeed it is, and that goal is so stated in the “Trans- Pacific Partnership Frequently Asked Questions” section of the official website of the the United States Trade Representative (http://www.ustr.gov/tpp), which candidly states: “The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a vehicle for Asia-Pacific-wide economic integration.” Further indicating TPP’s goal, the group’s organizers boldly propose their “vision of negotiating a high-standard, 21st century regional agreement.” In other words, the TPP conference in New Zealand will be a grand step toward gaining nation-by-nation approval of another sovereignty-compromising trade agreement.
