U.S. unions gear up to fight Obama over TPP deal

Trade should be able to make us all better off. AFAIAC, low-skilled unemployment can't get any worse considering that we already have huge amounts of trade with China and Mexico.

Japanese farming interests and U.S. trade unions are dead set against the TPP — somewhat strange bedfellows.

I'm not sure where I stand in this, because for me higher trade flows means a higher income. However, former U.S. labor secretary Robert Reich, now a vocal advocate for the middle class, calls this "the worst trade deal you've never heard of," even worse for the American working class than the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Here is Mr. Reich's brilliant overview of the TPP. It is well worth watching (2'15"): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O_Sbbeqfdw

Great more of these marxist unions getting in the way. Have not they caused enough problems with forcing fuel prices up in America, even forcing food prices up in Japan because French Fries cant be shipped.

How about unions, you repsect freedom of people to interact in trade by any means they want. In fact, how about we include Labor in the TPP meaning the people can go and work wherever they want, not just the goods they produce.

I would say anytime unions are against something this much, then the rest of us should be for it.

Sorry unions but the fact is we people of the world are unalienably free, TPP may not cover everything as it should but it is definitely a start.

Too bad it is not being extended to a few other countries in Asia especially.

TPP will mess up our national insurance for health care here. I do not want the american health care companies coming in here and changing the brilliant system we have already.

Wait a moment, why only Obama and Democrats. After what I've read so far, the Republicans are for this as well, because it favours their sponsors "the 1%" who are owning the big intl companies, for whose benefit this pact was made, mainly by easing their liabilities and disregarding local laws, thus getting an advantage before local companies. And whats with this

agree the deal and submit it in its entirety to Congress to ratify, without the power to make amendments.

So you have a deal thats done behind closed doors, only a few details are leaking out, and Obama wants it to be unable to be changed once all the negative impacts for people like you and me are out. That's scary stuff, did it come from the Koch brothers?

I think NAFTA was a the bad deal. How could US or Canada compete with The labor rate in Mexico? And it didn't even stop the illegals.

JapanGal, "Brilliant" Really??

This is certainly not a partisan political issue - in either Japan or the US - it is basically an issue between industries in the respective countries that sell products and services beyond the nation's borders, and those who cater to only a domestic audience, have a protected share of the market, and do not want any competition . Notice that TPP is strongly supported by Keidanran, the Japan Business Federation and The US Business Foundation, but is opposed by Japan Agricultural Cooperative and the AFL-CIO. And the article focuses too much on just the US and Japan - there are 11 other nations that have agreed to participate.

My view is that anything that offers the consumer more choices and at a lower price is a good thing. Nothing is forcing these consumers to buy foreign or off-shore products, but under TPP they'll at least be offered the choice.

It's absolutely a bad deal, and is being negotiated secretly

If it is secret, how do you know it is "absolutely a bad deal"?

My view is that anything that offers the consumer more choices and at a lower price is a good thing. Nothing is forcing these consumers to buy foreign or off-shore products, but under TPP they'll at least be offered the choice.

Gutting minimum wage protections, employee benefits, and workplace protections will give consumers products at a lower price, too.

Are you comfortable with that?

Essentially, that's what you're getting with the TPP. You'll have Malaysian agriculture (no minimum wage, heavy importation of essentially slave labor from very poor nations) competing with Japanese agriculture (strong workplace protections and a social safety net). There's no amount of agricultural sector reform Japan could possibly do to compete on price with a country that uses slave labor grow its food.

Forget TTP and Asia/Japan. TTP is bad for Americans!!! Want to increase the finicnal divide further? This goes way beyond Japan and Asia plenty of westerners are against the TTP and for good reason.

Can we please stop mincing words. The TPP is the corporate lobby control over the elected process. Welcome to the machine suckers

@Pandabelle

Wisest post of the month.

No wonder the unions are up in arms. Rapacious multi-national corporations will be the death of civilised society if we let them....

'I would say anytime unions are against something this much, then the rest of us should be for it.'

The TPP is yet another step by big business on the way of completely sidestepping elected governments. The quickly fading power of the unions is just a minor irritation. If you are for unelected business people eroding the power of your vote, say that.

President Obama seems to be tone deaf to the sounds of the marching corporate boots who want to have complete control over the people. Doing things behind closed doors is their way to ram what they want through the system without receiving any criticism and feedback.

Gutting minimum wage protections, employee benefits, and workplace protections will give consumers products at a lower price, too. Are you comfortable with that?

I didn’t say that, you did.

Essentially, that's what you're getting with the TPP.

How do you know that?

You'll have Malaysian agriculture (no minimum wage, heavy importation of essentially slave labor from very poor nations) competing with Japanese agriculture (strong workplace protections and a social safety net). There's no amount of agricultural sector reform Japan could possibly do to compete on price with a country that uses slave labor grow its food.

That seems to be a line of argument used by all the folks who want to government to set prices and restrict choice – and here’s what’s wrong with it – no one is holding a gun to the citizens of any of these countries and forcing them to buy anything – if they want to purchase higher quality, higher priced Japanese items, they will still have that choice. They will also have the choice, which they don’t now, of buying a much less expensive option. Japan’s citizens have been held hostage to large cooperatives that through collusion with prior governments have restricted what can be imported and kept prices artificially high, forcing them to pay some of the highest consumer prices in the world. They deserve a choice – let the people use their own good sense to decide what to buy.

I hope you're not the type that thinks plain folks aren't smart enough to do that, and require a benevolent government to decide for them........if so, there's a country you may enjoy living in - though the government there also thinks its a good idea that all citizens wear a badge with the "dear" leader's face on it............

here’s what’s wrong with it – no one is holding a gun to the citizens of any of these countries and forcing them to buy anything – if they want to purchase higher quality, higher priced Japanese items, they will still have that choice.

But the majority of people will buy the cheaper items, which in turn will cut profits for the Japanese producers. This will put a number of the Japanese producers out of businesses, and drive up the price of Japanese products so that only the elite will be able to afford them, driving the rest to have to purchase the cheap products from Malaysia.

A race to the bottom is never a good idea. It drops the quality of life for everyone except the top elite.

But the majority of people will buy the cheaper items, which in turn will cut profits for the Japanese producers. This will put a number of the Japanese producers out of businesses, and drive up the price of Japanese products so that only the elite will be able to afford them, driving the rest to have to purchase the cheap products from Malaysia.

You don't know that - that's an assumption. It could also be true that Japan farmers increase their productivity, that they market their products better, and that they thrive by producing a quality product that consumers are willing to pay for, and increase their market share. And those folks that may not have that level of purchasing power, may now buy other more cheaper products, that contribute to a higher quality of life.

I trust the public to make good decisions, when given the opportunity to make those decisions, instead of having the government choose for them.......

This is the problem with politics in the US. All that goddamn lobbyism. It's all about money, not what would actually benefit people. I really cannot believe it's still happening in the 21st century.

There is a joke that an economist will take the reality he/she observes back to the office to se if it works in theory.

In theory, freer trade should result in greater wealth for all since comparative advantages maximizes economic efficiency. The problem is that free trade agreements are not necessarily about making trade freer but about giving advantages to those industries that already have the maximum efficiencies for the parties while trading off the interests of what is supposed to be the more inefficient sectors. Too often, this set up produces a small number of really big winners, a slight larger number of big winners, a huge number of marginal winners, and a not insignificant number of losers. Another problem is that the winners can employ super effective lobbyists to ram through these agreements whereas the huge number of marginal winners and losers only have relatively weak groups like labor unions to protect their interests, and the unions are not readily equipped to debate the intricacies of trade deals.

We are liable to get the TPP. Too many interest groups want it. Obama needs it to show that the pivot to Asia is more than just incremental increases in troops. Abe wants it to get closer to Obama and to try to get some some dead wood agriculture excised. The Vietnamese "reformers" want it to push more competitiveness -- good luck. The Malaysians want to be seen to actually be a leader for once. The Aussies and Kiwis want it for their resource and dairy trade.

Unions are looking out for their bread and butter, dues paying members who might get replaced in a variety of ways. Meanwhile, in the world of on-line technology, there are a lot of people seeing threats to information sharing from copyright holders and litigation from an expanded group of Internet Trolls who buy obscure patents and then run around suing people. Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF.org) has been sounding the alarm about this agreement for months.