 |
The U.S. Signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership — Now Let's Kill It!
Send a Message to Congress: STOP the TPP!
Dear
Alison,
BREAKING UPDATE: The U.S. just signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in New Zealand — a massive trade deal between the U.S. and 11 other countries, and a giveaway to some of the world's most powerful special interests. 1
So does this mean it's all over? Far from it...
We need you now more than ever — will you send a message to Congress to oppose the TPP?
Multinational corporations had a seat at the table during the TPP negotiations to ensure that the final deal would boost their bottom line. If passed, it would cost us jobs, threaten food safety and increase fracking in U.S. communities. The deal was negotiated in secret for years, and the newly-released text of the deal is even worse than we expected.2
Now that the U.S. has signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the President needs to submit the deal to Congress, along with "implementing legislation" that will bring all federal laws, regulations and rules into compliance with the deal. Once this legislation is introduced, Congress has 90 days to vote on it, and because of the Fast Track legislation that passed last year, Congress can only give the TPP an up or down vote. No amendments, and very limited debate.
People ask why President Obama is working with Big Business and the Republican leadership to push for a trade deal that is bad for the American public, and that we don't want. Part of the reason is that he claims it will be better than past trade deals — but we already know that isn't true.
Why is the TPP worse than other trade deals?
The language in the TPP makes it easier for corporations to challenge and win trade disputes against the U.S. than any other trade agreement to date.
Here are two recent examples of the very real damage that corporate trade deals can have on issues we care about:
- Country of Origin Meat Labels: We worked for years to make sure consumers have important information about where their food comes from, and we won country of origin labels in 2008. Immediately, Canada and Mexico brought a World Trade Organization challenge to the law. The U.S. finally lost the challenge last fall, and Congress repealed Country of Origin Labeling.
- Keystone XL Pipeline: In January, the company that was planning to build the Keystone pipeline filed a corporate trade suit under NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement), demanding $15 billion in lost profits. A huge victory for the environmental community last year could now be compromised by a foreign entity.
These attacks on our democracy demonstrate the very real dangers of corporate trade deals like the TPP. Send a message to Congress: Oppose the TPP!
That's why we need more voices joining the growing wave of opposition to the TPP, before this legislation is even introduced. Will you add your voice by sending a message to Congress?
We put up a tremendous fight last year, along with our partners in the labor, environmental and human rights movements, and Fast Track passed by the narrowest of margins. We can defeat the TPP if we continue to work together.
Stand with us against the TPP — send your message today.
Thanks for taking action,
Katy Kiefer
Activist Network Manager
Food & Water Watch
katy(at)fwwatch(dot)org
1. WTF is the TPP?, Food & Water Watch, November 23, 2015.
2. TPP Text Reveals Broad New Powers to Attack Food Safety, Food Labeling Laws, Food & Water Watch, November 5, 2015. 
|
|
