Obama says Pacific trade pact will boost United States economy

“The text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership runs 5,554 pages”.

The 6000-page legal text of the agreement was released late last night, and critics say it won’t mean much to most people because of its complexity.

The footwear industry stands to benefit hugely from the deal, which includes key manufacturing markets like Vietnam.

The government has said the trade agreement will boost New Zealand’s economy by $2.7 billion a year by 2030 but, until now, the public has been kept in the dark as to what the agreement entailed.

A man protesting the Trans-Pacific Partnership holds a sign behind U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman as he testifies before a Senate Finance Committee hearing on “President Obama’s 2015 Trade Policy Agenda” on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., January 27, 2015.

However, the “fast track” trade bill passed earlier this year allows Congress to review and vote on the agreement but prevents lawmakers from making amendments.

Other firsts cited by the partners – Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam – include a prohibition on subsidies to harmful fisheries as well as commitments to discourage imports of goods produced by forced labor and to adopt laws on acceptable working conditions.

Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch said on Thursday the final text has revealed details about the deal that were worse than expected.

Currency manipulation has also become an issue in the presidential campaign, with Republicans such as Donald Trump vowing to take a tougher line against countries that practice it.

Spanning about two-fifths of the global economy, the hard-won deal aims to set the rules for 21st century trade and investment and press non-member China to shape its behaviour in commerce, investment and business regulation to TPP standards. “And if we don’t pass this agreement – if America doesn’t write those rules – then countries like China will”, Obama said.

A White House spokesman highlighted Obama’s strong desire to push TPP into law and explained that the president personally called and visited members of Congress about the issue.

The US Electronic Frontier Foundation, which focuses on rights related to the Internet and digital world, said the deal did little for individuals.

The document also indicates that the Canadian government has the right to cap foreign ownership in certain companies, namely the country’s largest airline Air Canada, uranium miner Cameco Ltd and a few others.

Have you identified an interesting aspect of the text? Experts say South Korea is a good candidate for new TPP membership because it already has free trade agreements with 10 of the 12 TPP members.