So it turned out that the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks didn’t end at the Westin in Kaanapali back in July. Oh well. In any case, the negotiations over the controversial free trade agreement finally concluded yesterday (according to this U.S. State Department message from Secretary of State John Kerry), which means we the general public who will have to live with the TPP will finally get a chance to read its terms and conditions in all their glory.
Until such time as we get to find out exactly what’s in the deal, here are three video clips of Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard, D–Hawaii, explaining her extreme caution and distrust of the deal (labor and environmental activists tend to oppose free trade pacts because they tend to put the interests of polluting, anti-union corporations above all others).
“I will examine the details of this deal carefully once it’s delivered to Congress, but from what I have seen so far, the TPP agreement will benefit Wall Street banks and multinational corporations on the backs of hard-working Americans, and it will increase existing threats to our environment,” Gabbard says in the video. “As Congress goes through its 90-day review period, my top priority will be to bring voice to the working men and women who are deeply worried about how this will affect their jobs, and the small business owners and local manufacturers in Hawaiʻi and across the country who fear being forced out of business.”
Here’s the video:
Click here for our previous coverage of the TPP talks on Maui, which includes helpful background on the trade deal.
Photo of Rep. Gabbard courtesy her office
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