Congressman Alan Grayson (D-Orlando) has called the secret trade agreement being negotiated between the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and foreign governments a “disturbing attack on American democracy and sovereignty.”
Grayson made these observations after becoming the first-known Member of Congress to view the current text of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement last week.
“Finally, a Member of Congress has been able to see the details of this so-called ‘free trade’ agreement,” said Grayson. “It is easy to understand why this NAFTA-style agreement has been kept secret. The TPP is a disturbing attack on American democracy and sovereignty. It puts corporate interests ahead of American interests.”
For years, civil liberties groups, labor advocates, and Members of Congress, have been advocating to view the text of the agreement, but to no avail. USTR finally relented and allowed Grayson to view the text.
Recently, Grayson submitted nearly 10,000 comments to the USTR against the inclusion of the “investor-state” provision in another free-trade agreement the Obama administration is currently negotiating. The provision permits huge corporations to file lawsuits to prevent government actions that they just don’t like, such as health and safety regulations. Similar trade agreements have allowed the World Trade Organization to strike down country-of-origin meat labels, dolphin-safe tuna labels and limits on candy-flavored cigarettes marketed to kids. The TPP is reported to include the same terms.
