Raising alarms about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): worse than NAFTA

America: A Fire Sale to Foreign Corporations

The leaked document reveals that the trade agreement would give unprecedented political authority and legal protection to foreign corporations.  Specifically, TPP would (1) severely limit regulation of foreign corporations operating within U.S. boundaries, giving them greater rights than domestic firms, (2) extend incentives for U.S. firms to move  investments and jobs to lower-wage countries, (3) establish an alternative legal system that gives foreign corporations and investors new rights to circumvent U.S. courts and laws, allowing them to sue the U.S. government before foreign tribunals and demand compensation for lost revenue due to US laws they claim undermine their TPP privileges or their investment “expectations.”

It seems that corporations are playing a role analogous to warlords in Afghanistan or drug cartels in Mexico.