AssassinsMace
Lieutenant General
Why would a democracy like the US want to have unelected international corporate heads be able to rewrite laws of other countries overriding a country's sovereignty as TPP would allow? They sell TPP by saying it will reign in China. How? China's not a part of TPP so how will they force China into their will? Maybe they will gang-up and not buy anything from China. And China is most of the TPP memberships' number one customer will not buy from them. Just look at how Australia is whining about China not buying their wine or barley... You're not the one in a position of power when you whine and pout and stamp your little feet when you get a taste of what you just did right back at you. That's their only power but when the other side can hurt you more with the same power, what's the point? Free trade agreements are never free and not everyone is following the same rules. Those are negotiated individually by countries that want in with each member country like how Japan can put an exemption on rice claiming cultural and religious reason to protect it. Member countries will have an advantage over countries that want in and can demand special dispensation for themselves from those countries. They're counting on China wanting in because they think China doesn't want to be left out hence why the US said China won't be allowed membership until later. They want smaller countries to be able to veto China's membership so they will have negotiating power thus a country like the US will be able lead those countries against China to make China submit. But they think China blindly wants in just because it doesn't want to be left out. The unelected officials that will be rewriting laws of other countries is about doing it to China. TPP is only about China. It will fail without China. Did the initial members already negotiate with each other that power will only be exercised on China to get them to go along because why would any country want another country(tries) to have that power over them? Maybe they agreed they would all protect one another from China. Maybe they promised each other a cut of the Chinese pie for themselves if they went along. That's the dilemma they put themselves in. What a great selling point for everyone to get onboard that they will essentially control China but they couldn't admit that because then China would never join. They had to instead make it sound like a general rule of TPP that applied to every member equally but that in turn said foreigners could override their own laws and in the US, Americans would be dead set against it. Admit what TPP was really about and China would never join TPP. Lie about the truth where the rules applied to everyone equally and Americans would be outrage that foreigners can control the US and they would go against it and that's what happened.