I trust John Key with this deal. He’s a good investment
banker. If he thought it would go wrong, he would not have
signed it. And I think the protesting has certainly become
anti-JK protesting, rather than actually properly educated
about the points it actually wants to make (more on that
below …). I feel that you can’t be anti-international trade,
and the readily accept the reality of McDonalds and
smartphones. Fundamental irony.
The protests. Now. I agree with protesting in theory. But the
protesting in Auckland inconvenienced people that had nothing to
do with the TPPA for no reason other than to ‘send a message’.
You should maybe have thought to send a different message
because protesting by blocking off roads is actually just rude
and inconsiderate, and makes me think you’re just whinging for
the sake of it. Even if you believe what you’re saying, the
actual message is lost in the protest; and the protest and fact
that inconvenience was caused are the only things that end up
reported. So, while I agree with the principle, your approach
and respect for others is appaling; so much so that I actually
disagree with the point you’re trying to make. That’s an ad
hominiem argument. You could probably ignore it. Should
probably. The accusations of police using force are mostly
because idiots are being stupid and not listening to
instructions. Which is surely a breach of some law anyway even
on its own. Like the people refusing to leave SkyCity even
though protesting there has no value anymore because the deal
has been signed now and there’s nothing more that can be done
until the agreement is debated fully and in a more civilised
manner. Anyways.
See it’s not the idea of a trade agreement that I’m against;
and I’m told that most international anythings are negotiated in
secret in the way this was done, so that doesn’t really bother
me either. The TPPA will eliminate tariffs for exports to the
countries (especially the USA) and will bring benefit to the
country when it is implemented (which, admittedly, won’t be for
a while …). Tariffs on goods will be eliminated over a little
while, presumably as a kind of stepping scale. The TPPA of
course spends much of it’s 600 pages discussing the extent to
which tariffs will be removed for each good to each country. The
TPPA ensures that signatories are the primary benefactors of the
deal. It agrees on transparent and non-discriminatory guidelines
to remove barriers to trade and ensure cooperation.
The problem I have with the TPPA is a thing called ISDS.
Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) is an instrument of
public international law, that grants an investor the right to
use dispute settlement proceedings against a foreign government.
The actual agreement isn’t so transparent in its wording and
actually almost seems reasonable. There certainly seems to be a
restriction on the claims that can be made, but that isn’t
exactly reassuring because the possibility is still real. The
fact that ISDS operates under a different system as national law
(no precedent or appeal systems, the arbitrator’s decisions are
final and they’re paid by the hour, so the $$$ quickly piles
up…). While, in theory, ISDS is a dispute-resolution system that
is fair and unbiased, the fact is that these measures make ISDS
cases unbalanced in the favour of the investor, and the
explosion of ISDS cases since the 1990s is worrying. Many
countries have vowed to not sign agreements with ISDS clauses in
them. And this is fair because ISDS seems to be an antiquated
way for corporate power to undermine government operation. That
being said, protesters saying that the rights of New Zealanders
are being eroded are … wrong. The TPPA won’t affect individual
actions of any one person. Taxpayer coffers, perhaps, but the
likelihood that normal government operating will break the TPP
is, at least from where I sit, low.
To conclude on a positive note, I want to share an extract
from an Annex in the Intellectual Property section; Annex 18-A
Article 4. The interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi,
including as to the nature of the rights and obligations arising
under it, shall not be subject to the dispute settlement
provisions of this Agreement. Chapter 28 (Dispute Settlement)
shall otherwise apply to this Annex. A panel established under
Article 28.7 (Establishment of a Panel) may be requested to
determine only whether any measure referred to in paragraph 2 is
inconsistent with a Party’s rights under this Agreement. So,
yes. There are problems I have with the TPPA. But ultimately, I
believe the benefits will outweigh the costs; apart from the
ISDS stuff it seems like a really good trade deal. Mostly
because I can’t actually see half the things people say the
costs will be; I can’t see anywhere stating that medicine prices
will rise, so I don't think medicine prices will rise that much,
or certainly not much more than they might have irrespective of
the TPPA. Because if the companies were going to put prices up,
they would surely do that anyway …
Sources;
-
https://www.tpp.mfat.govt.nz/