To: Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (OR-1), Sen. Ron Wyden (OR-1), and Sen. Jeff Merkley (OR-2)
Don't fast-track the TPP!
Don't fast-track the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership). It is a one-sided corporate trade deal that will fuel inequality, kill jobs, and undermine health, environmental and financial regulations.
Why is this important?
The United States and eleven other nations are working on a massive new trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP. According to Public Policy Polling, 63% of Oregonians oppose the TPP, and 73% oppose giving the president “Fast Track” authority to ram trade deals through Congress without amendments. Oregonians are right. In 2012, President Obama pushed through a similar “free trade” agreement with Korea. He promised it would increase exports and create jobs. He was wrong. It hurt exports and killed more than 93,000 US jobs. The failed Korea agreement is the template for the TPP.
The TPP would increase the number of foreign corporations able to challenge any US federal, state, or local law: any law that might jeopardize foreign corporate profit, including laws on environmental protection, food and water safety, public health, working conditions, and internet network equality. Forget due process. Judgment is passed by secretive tribunals whose rulings are final. There is no appeal to regular US courts. The number of such claims filed under existing “free trade” agreements is increasing: from a few in 1995 to at least 600 by 2014. But the proceedings are conducted in secrecy. The actual number may be higher.
The TPP will fuel inequality, kill jobs, and undermine health, environmental and financial regulations. Oregonians are right: it must be stopped.
The TPP would increase the number of foreign corporations able to challenge any US federal, state, or local law: any law that might jeopardize foreign corporate profit, including laws on environmental protection, food and water safety, public health, working conditions, and internet network equality. Forget due process. Judgment is passed by secretive tribunals whose rulings are final. There is no appeal to regular US courts. The number of such claims filed under existing “free trade” agreements is increasing: from a few in 1995 to at least 600 by 2014. But the proceedings are conducted in secrecy. The actual number may be higher.
The TPP will fuel inequality, kill jobs, and undermine health, environmental and financial regulations. Oregonians are right: it must be stopped.