Why was the job market bad last week? It was bad because many companies have decided to hold off on hiring for now.
Why are many companies holding off on hiring for now? They are holding off because of the possible approval of The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
What is the TPP? It is a multilateral free trade agreement something like NAFTA—something that will export more American jobs overseas. That is why hiring is off in the United States.
The TPP? What’s that? It is a proposed agreement which aims to open U.S. markets to countries of the Asia-Pacific region, namely New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Peru, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei. Canada, Japan and Mexico are all expected to join the TPP talks, and many see more Pacific Rim countries including China and Russia eventually signing on.
TPP is estimated to be able to boost trade by $1.1 trillion by 2025. The next round of negotiations will be in Dallas next week. It will be the biggest giveaway of jobs and tax money (overseas tax-free profits) in the history of the U.S.
Next week in Dallas, negotiations for what’s likely to be the largest Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in U.S. history will continue in near total secrecy.
Why the secrecy? The darkness surrounding the talks isn’t surprising, considering the American public’s increasing disapproval of FTAs and the laundry list of corporate handouts under discussion.
Who is responsible for the blackout of information about TPP? The big multinationals. Their henchman is US trade representative Ron Kirk and his growing crackdown on public involvement, despite his false claims of “unprecedented transparency.”
The negotiators must hide certain facts, such as the TPP would make it easier for corporations to offshore jobs by opening our market to Vietnamese labor, which has even lower average wages than China. Labor costs in Vietnam are still lower than those of its other neighbors Thailand and China. Vietnamese factory workers earn just two thirds of what their comrades in China bring home.
Brunei is another beneficiary of TPP. This is even though Brunei remains on a “watch list” of countries identified as violators of intellectual property rights (IPR), according to a report by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). After all, Brunei and the US are founding members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key says the timeframe of concluding the TPP agreement is important noting that the TPP could add $2.1 billion to the New Zealand economy by 2025. Of course he failed to point out that the TPP would rob the US of jobs and income.
The only that the TPP can get past public scrutiny is if no one ever hears about it. Fortunately, activists are fighting back May 8 to 18 in Dallas, and an online petition has already garnered thousands of signatures calling on Kirk either to be fired or to release TPP proposals.
June 5,2012 update:
The Obama administration is now considering adding Japan, Mexico and Canada to a Pacific- region trade accord being negotiated by nine nations, a top economic adviser to President Barack Obama said.
The TPP like the World Trade Organization will benefit only large US corporations. Under the WTO, American tax dollars pay for a free foreign plant, a guarantee against most foreign losses, and a tax-free ride so long as the profits are not brought back into the US. Unemployment in the US will never improve so long as the WTO is in existence.
June 19 update:
It was announced Tuesday, June 19, 2012 that leaders of the current Transpacific Partnership (TPP) have invited Mexico and Canada to join the TPP trade negotiations. Cargill applauds their entry.
Currently TPP includes nine countries: Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, United States, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Peru, Chile, and Vietnam with Canada and Mexico joining the crowd to take jobs away from Americans (to the benefit of the one-percenters.
Bring back tariffs!