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THE TRUTH BEHIND THE TPP [TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP]

March 4, 2015

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Helps Big Business and Hurts Us

We Need Members of Congress in Oklahoma to Oppose the TPP!

Do you think corporations should be writing our laws?

If not, keep reading to learn more about the Trans-Pacific Partnership — and then send a message to Congress to stop the bill that would fast track the TPP.

What is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and why is it a secret?

The TPP is being called NAFTA on steroids. It's a pro-big business trade deal — the largest in history — and it's been negotiated in secret since 2008 among 600+ corporate "advisers." Congress couldn't even see the draft until 2013, and while they now have very limited access to the text, they can't discuss it with anyone. So while companies like Goldman Sachs and Monsanto have been writing the deal, our elected representatives and the public have been shut out.¹

What's so bad about trade deals like the TPP?

Pro-big business trade deals like the TPP are designed to boost the profits of multinational corporations, but they do so at the expense of middle-class citizens and our environment. One of the most concerning aspects of the TPP is a key provision (called the Investor State Dispute Settlement, or ISDS) that would allow companies to sue local governments over democratically enacted laws that they claim hurt their profits.² Under a similar trade deal, Quebec, Canada is being sued by a company for $250 million over the province's moratorium on fracking.

How would the TPP affect jobs?

The U.S. lost 700,000 jobs under NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) alone. We've continued to ship jobs overseas with each trade agreement we've entered into, and the TPP would likely be more of the same. The TPP could also increase the number of workers in sweatshop conditions in places like Vietnam and Malaysia that already have huge problems with unsafe, unfair and low-wage labor conditions.

How would the TPP affect issues I care about?

The TPP touches a range of issues affecting the safety of our food and water. The oil and gas industry wants to use these trade deals to start exporting fracked gas to Japan, which would increase fracking here at home and expose more local communities to water pollution. These deals would also increase the flood of imported foods — especially for chemical- and antibiotic-tainted farm-raised shrimp and catfish. Local food initiatives like farm-to-school programs could be deemed “trade barriers,” and efforts to label GMOs could be threatened.

Who supports the TPP and who's opposed?

Lobbyists for big business and the elite in Washington are in support of trade deals like the TPP. Food & Water Watch and a long list of allies are opposed because it is not in the best interests of the public to pass this trade deal. We're working with groups like Public Citizen, the Sierra Club, Communications Workers of America and many more to stand up for people over corporate profits.

To stop the TPP, we need to stop the Fast Track bill that would expedite its approval and limit public input even further. Send your members of Congress a message asking them to oppose the bill that would Fast Track the TPP.

There's a lot wrong with our current political system, but we've reached a new low if we allow corporate special interests to write our laws. Our position is simple: people matter more than corporate profits.

The TPP Is a Secretive, Pro-Big Business Trade Deal