In the United States, thanks to Fast Track Trade Authority passed by Congress, the American Legislature will only be able to give an up or down vote on the TPP trade Bill. No revisions, deletions or editions are allowed. The battle over TPP in Washington is sure to pit establishment Party leaders from both parties against independent-leaning rank-and-file members from both parties. Many Republican Congressmen see TPP as an attack on American sovereignty while most Democrat legislators view the trade deal as an attack on workers and jobs.

WikiLeaks leaks portion of TPP

On October 5, 2015, the same day as the announcement that TPP had been finalized and tentatively agreed to by all 12 nations’ trade representatives, WikiLeaks published a leaked copy of the Intellectual Property Rights chapter. The leaked report begins with, ‘This is the highly sort after secret ‘final’ agreed version of the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) Chapter on Intellectual Property Rights. There is still a finishing ‘legal scrub’ of the document meant to occur, but there are to be no more negotiations between the Parties.’

The 12 participating TPP member nations are:

• United States

• Mexico

• Canada

• Australia

• Malaysia

• Chile

• Singapore

• Peru

• Vietnam

• New Zealand

• Brunei Darussalam

• Japan

Complaints about TPP

After viewing the leaked chapter on Intellectual Property Rights, critics warn that the international agreement supersedes national laws governing copyright and trademark infringement. TPP would also force internet service providers to turn over information on customers accused of violating intellectual property rights.

Other opponents of the TPP trade deal argue that protections will be enacted for notorious and often-banned products like genetically modified foods. No longer will individual countries or US states be allowed to require GMO labeling on products sold in grocery stores. Also, critics like Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton assert that the deal gives more rights and power to Big Pharma than to patients.

Let’s not forget WikiLeaks’ own Julian Assange, warning the world about the TPP trade deal, “If instituted, the TPP’s IP regime would trample over individual rights and free expression, as well as ride roughshod over the intellectual and creative commons. If you read, write, publish, think, listen, dance, sing or invent; if you farm or consume food; if you’re ill now or might one day be ill, the TPP has you in its crosshairs.”

US Presidential candidates on TPP

American Presidential candidates from both establishment parties are split on the TPP trade agreement. On the Democrat side, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden strongly support the deal. Biden called it “a game changer” and a “comprehensive, high standard trade agreement”. In opposition, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has flip-flopped on TPP. For years, she lobbied for its passage while representing the Obama administration at the State Department.

A report from CNN illustrates Clinton’s reversal. Titled, ’45 Times Secretary Clinton pushed the Trade Bill she now opposes’, the account quotes the former First Lady now saying of TPP, “The President should listen to and work with his allies in Congress, starting with Nancy Pelosi, who have expressed their concerns about the impact that a weak agreement would have on our workers, to make sure we get the best, strongest deal possible. And if we don’t get it, there should be no deal.” Clinton went on to say, “There are some specifics in there that could and should be changed. So I am hoping that’s what happens now. Let’s take the lemons and turn it into lemonade.”

Fellow Democrat Presidential candidate and US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has made no secret about his opposition to TPP. On the same day the deal was finalized last week, Sanders remarked, “Wall Street and other big corporations have won again. In the Senate, I will do all that I can to defeat the TPP agreement.”

On the Republican side

On the Republican side, Presidential candidates like Jeb Bush are in full support of TPP. He’s on record saying, “I know some political constituencies in my own political party don’t favor it. But I agree with what Hillary Clinton said about TPP in 2012: This is a great deal for America.” Marco Rubio also supports TPP, saying, “The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), discussed between President Obama and Prime Minister Abe this week, will further our strategic goals in Asia and increase prosperity at home.”

Straddling the fence are GOP Presidential candidates like Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and former CEO Carly Fiorina. Both are on record as saying they could possibly support TPP, but not if it’s detrimental to America’s best interests, and certainly not while it’s still secret. In short, they would have to read it first. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump was also straddling the fence, up until the TPP deal was finalized last week. On that day, Trump publicly opposed the agreement saying, “The incompetence of our current administration is beyond comprehension. TPP is a terrible deal.”

For more information on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), read any of the following Related Whiteout Press articles.