Finally, public debate around the Trans-Pacific Partnership has moved beyond the question of being for or against trade. We’re now for it. The real question is what kind of trade policy will express our values as a country?
[Reposted from The Seattle Times | Stan Sorscher | April 16, 2015]
Former Govs. Chris Gregoire and Deval Patrick made a familiar argument for the TPP [“Trans-Pacific Partnership promises more than prosperity,” Opinion, April 14], emphasizing exports while ignoring imports; promising opportunities but closing their eyes to decades of deindustrialization; highlighting jobs created while neglecting jobs lost; and failing to acknowledge the cumulative $11.4 trillion trade deficit in goods since NAFTA.
Our trade negotiators and proponents have lost the presumption of trust. Most online comments to the guest editorial raised trust issues, or characterized TPP as a power grab for the 1 percent and global companies.
In 2005, Gregoire wrote to our negotiators that she was “extremely concerned about the impact” of provisions we see in leaked versions of the TPP. Those chapters were “deeply troubling” to her. This week, she tells us this deal expresses progressive values.
We’ve heard enough promises about secret language, written under the direction of 600 corporate lobbyists. TPP is just another in a long line a bad trade deals.
