TRADE DEALS UPDATE - CETA, TPP . . .Feb. 2, 2016

[Oscar]

TRADE DEALS UPDATE - Feb. 2, 2016: CETA, TPP . . . . .


TROUBLES WITH THE TPP - updated frequently . . .
[ http://rabble.ca/category/tags/trouble-tpp ]


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BARLOW: CETA Changes Make Investor-State Provisions Worse - February 2, 2016
[ http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/maude-barl ... 30538.html ]
In a recent editorial, the Globe and Mail endorsed proposed changes to the Canada-Europe Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), namely to the investment-state dispute settlement provisions that allow foreign corporations to sue governments over regulatory changes that affect their profits.
These changes include modifying the lawsuit and arbitration provisions so that they would resemble, in the Globe's words, "more of a court," thus helping the agreement pass through the European Parliament.
The editorial board argues, "Fixing CETA in this way would respond to critics of the deal, while improving it. Sounds like a win-win. Where do we sign?"
Having toured Europe and met with both politicians and grassroots groups, I can tell you that a court system is not going to placate European activists or many parliamentarians. Some are already calling it a PR stunt that does nothing but put a Good Housekeeping seal of approval on an already flawed system.
It won't convince them to support this dangerous deal.
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The Europeans are calling for a completely different paradigm on how we look at trade agreements. There are many countries -- Brazil and India, to name only two -- that have rejected trade agreements with investor-state provisions. That should be the future of trade agreements, not quasi-judicial tribunals that exclusively serve foreign corporate interests.


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Canadian educators join global teacher unions' call to carve out education from the TPP – February 2, 2016
[ http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/ca ... 69171.html ]
The CTF [Canadian Teachers' Federation and CAUT [ the Canadian Association of University Teachers] share EI's [Education International ] concerns about the potential impacts of the TPP for the education sector as there is no explicit exclusion of education, which exposes the sector to greater risks of privatization and commercialization and threatens free, public, high-quality education.
Teacher trade unions are making a final push to keep education off the table as the wide-reaching trade pact that covers 40 per cent of the global economy is expected to be signed Feb. 4, in Auckland New Zealand


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The TPP and Canadian Health Care (30 pages) - February 3, 2016
[ https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publi ... plications ]
This study examines the effects of the TPP on the Canadian public health care system. It finds that the TPP investor protections would make it more difficult and costly for Canadian governments to establish new public health programs, including pharmacare, which is on the agenda of ongoing federal-provincial health talks.
The overarching impacts of the proposed treaty would be to weaken the Canadian public health care system, undermine health regulation, and obstruct efforts to renew and expand public health care in the face of new challenges.


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Freeland in New Zealand to sign TPP, Māori describe it as a "death sentence" for Indigenous rights - February 2, 2016
[ http://canadians.org/blog/freeland-new- ... ous-rights ]
As Canada's trade minister Chrystia Freeland travels to Auckland to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Indigenous peoples in New Zealand are saying the 'trade deal' is a "death sentence" for their rights.


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Council of Canadians calls on Liberals to not disregard concerns about the TPP - February 2, 2016
[ http://canadians.org/blog/council-canad ... -about-tpp ]
When the Harper government concluded negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Oct. 2015, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau stated, "The Liberal Party of Canada strongly supports free trade... The Trans-Pacific Partnership stands to remove trade barriers, widely expand free trade for Canada, and increase opportunities for our middle class and those working hard to join it."


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Canada bullied into complying with U.S. demands in TPP - February 2, 2016
[ http://rabble.ca/news/2016/02/canada-bu ... emands-tpp ]
The U.S. is requiring Canada provide a report card every six months on its customs activities, meet on the issue whenever the U.S. demands, among other things.


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Economists Sharply Split Over Trade Deal Effects - February 2, 2016
[ http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/02/busin ... .html?_r=0 ]
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers and presidential candidates are having their say about the 12-nation Pacific Rim trade accord that is President Obama’s top economic priority in his final year in office. But lately the liveliest debate over the deal is among blue-ribbon economists.
On Monday, it was the critics’ turn: Economists from Tufts University unveiled their study concluding that the pact, called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, would cause some job losses and exacerbate income inequality in each of the dozen participating nations, but especially in the largest — the United States. . . . .