The TPP State of Play: How We Defeat the Largest Trade Deal in History

from the Electronic Frontier Foundation:


The TPP State of Play: How We Defeat the Largest Trade Deal in History


The official release of the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on November 5 not only confirmed our fears about how it would threaten our rights online and over our digital devices, but also kicked off a 90-day countdown to President Obama signing the deal. A few days later, the White House formally requested the International Trade Commission (ITC) to begin its study of the impacts of the TPP on the U.S. economy for a report to come out in the Spring before Congress approves (or ratifies) the deal—which as explained below, is a separate and later step to signature of the deal. Now that the TPP's approval and ratification in the United States is on the horizon, here's what you need to know about what's going on and what's to come. This state of play will be useful as we work to defend our digital rights against the largest trade deal in history.

The Critical Timelines

The series of procedural requirements imposed by the Fast Track bill that passed this summer gives us a useful timeframe to know what's coming next. But this clarity still doesn't make up for the loss of congressional oversight that we would have had if that bill had not passed. What Congress gave up with Fast Track was the ability to challenge any of the thousands of provisions that had been decided behind closed doors. So after February 4, 2016, the President will be able to unilaterally sign the TPP for the U.S. Thankfully, there's one more hoop the TPP must jump through before it becomes binding on the United States.

Both congressional houses must ratify the agreement in the form of approving "implementing legislation" that the White House will submit to lawmakers. This submission will happen after the President's signature, likely sometime in April or May. Once that happens, the House has 60 days from the bill's introduction to hold a vote on it and the Senate gets another 30 days, so 90 days in total, to approve or reject it. Since this second timeline only begins when the White House decides that they're ready for it, it all rests on whether the executive branch believes that it has the votes to get it through both houses. That's why it's critical that we call on our lawmakers to come out against this agreement: because that's how we can stop it.

White House Heavily Lobbies Congress

President Obama only needs a simple majority to get TPP approved in both houses, so the Administration has been wasting no time convincing members of Congress to support it. They've been in lobbying overdrive since they concluded negotiations in the end of October even before the text was released. While some lawmakers have already come out in clear support or opposition to the deal, most say they'll weigh their decision after reading the actual contents of the more than 6,000 page text—though it's difficult to believe that many of them will actually do this. ................(more)

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/12/tpp-current-state-play-how-we-defeat-largest-trade-deal