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United States and Eleven Other Nations Conclude Trans-Pacific Partnership

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 March 2017

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Type
Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 110 , Issue 2 , April 2016 , pp. 384 - 389
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 2016

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References

1 The twelve nations that negotiated the Trans-Pacific Partnership include Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam. Overview of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Off. U.S. Trade Representative, https://ustr.gov/tpp/overview-of-the-TPP (last visited Nov. 29, 2015) [hereinafter Overview of the TPP].

2 Statement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, 2015 Daily Comp. Pres. Doc. 696 (Oct. 5, 2015) [hereinafter TPP Statement].

3 Overview of the TPP, supra note 1.

4 Joint Statement—Trans-Pacific Partnership Leaders Statement, 2015 Daily Comp. Pres. Doc. 818 (Nov. 18, 2015).

5 U.S. Dep’t of State Press Release, Successful Conclusion of Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations (Oct. 5, 2015), at http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2015/10/247870.htm.

6 Trans-Pacific Partnership, Art. 30.5.1, Oct. 5, 2015, at https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/trans-pacific-partnership/tpp-full-text [hereinafter TPP]. If all twelve original signatories do not ratify the treaty within two years from the date of signing, the TPP may still enter into force if at least six original signatories ratify the treaty and those signatories account for at least 85 percent of the original signatories’ combined GDP in 2013. Id. Arts. 30.5.2, 30.5.3. This means that the TPP cannot enter into force unless ratified by both the United States and Japan. Ankit Panda, Here’s What Needs to Happen in Order for the Trans-Pacific Partnership to Become Binding, The Diplomat (Oct. 8, 2015), at http://thediplomat.com/2016/02/tpp-the-ratification-race-is-on/.

7 Tim Reif, The Path Forward on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, The White House (Nov. 5, 2015), at https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/11/05/path-forward-trans-pacific-partnership.

8 Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015, 19 U.S.CA § 4205(a)(1) (Westlaw through Pub. L. No. 114-61 (excluding Pub. L. Nos. 114-54, 114-59, 114-60)); Notice of Intention to Enter into the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, 80 Fed. Reg. 69, 559 (Nov. 9, 2015).

9 The White House Press Release, Statement by the President on the Signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (Feb. 3, 2016), at https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/02/03/statement-president-signing-transpacific-partnership.

10 19 U.S.CA § 4202(b)(3) (Westlaw through Pub. L. No. 114-61 (excluding Pub. L. Nos. 114-52, 114-54, 114-59, 114-60)); 19 U.S.CA § 2191 (Westlaw through Pub. L. No. 114-61 (excluding Pub. L. Nos. 114-54, 114-59, 114-60)). This structure for congressional review played an important diplomatic role in facilitating the conclusion of the TPP since some states refused to negotiate various aspects of the agreement until satisfied that U.S. congressional review would not create opportunity for further revisions. See Weisman, Jonathon, Trade Authority Bill Wins Final Approval in the Senate, N.Y. Times, June 24, 2015, at B1 Google Scholar.

11 19 U.S.C.A § 2191(f), (g) (Westlaw through Pub. L. No. 114-61 (excluding Pub. L. Nos. 114-54, 114-59, 114-60)).

12 Id. § 2191(d).

13 See, e.g., Senator Bernie Sanders: The Trans-Pacific Trade (TPP) Agreement Must be Defeated, Senator Bernie Sanders, at http://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/the-trans-pacific-trade-tpp-agreement-must-be-defeated-?inline=file (last visited Nov. 29, 2015) (“[The TPP] is part of a global race to the bottom to boost the profits of large corporations and Wall Street by outsourcing jobs; undercutting worker rights; dismantling labor, environmental, health, food safety and financial laws; and allowing corporations to challenge our laws in international tribunals rather than our own court system.”); Hillary Clinton Statement on Trans-Pacific Partnership, Hillary Clinton, at https://www.hillaryclinton.com/p/briefing/statements/2015/10/07/trans-pacific-partnership/(last visited Nov. 29, 2015) (“Based on what I know so far, I cannot support this agreement.”); Press Release, Mark Pocan, U.S. Rep., Pocan: Release of Trans-Pacific Partnership Text Confirms Our Fears about Trade Deal (Nov. 5, 2015), at https://pocan.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pocan-release-of-trans-pacific-partnership-text-confirms-our-fears-about (“In the end the TPP was worse than we thought it would be.”) [hereinafter Pocan Statement]; Krista Hughes, White House May Have to Renegotiate Trade Pact-Senator, Reuters (Nov. 6, 2015), at http://www.Reuters.com/article/2015/11/06/us-trade-tpp-hatch-idUSKCN0SV1XV20151106#OGUWGVPhB3QoG7IG.97 (quoting Sen. Orin Hatch (R-UT) as saying, “I understand that renegotiation may be difficult, particularly with so many parties involved, but at the end of the day, the alternative to renegotiation may be no TPP at all”); Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter (Oct. 5, 2015, 1:46 PM), at https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/651136309029834752 (“TPP is a terrible deal.”).

14 Krista Hughes, White House to Work with Congress on TPP Timing, Reuters (Nov. 12, 2015), at http://www.Reuters.com/article/2015/11/12/us-trade-tpp-usa-idUSKCN0T12JR20151112.

15 Jonathan Ernst, House Speaker Ryan: Not Enough Support for TPP Vote, Reuters (Feb. 11, 2016), at http://www.Reuters.com/article/us-trade-tpp-usa-house-idUSKCN0VK1W1.

16 TPP, supra note 6.

17 Summary of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, Off. Of the U.S. Trade Representative, at https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2015/october/summary-trans-pacific-partnership (last visited Nov. 29, 2015).

18 TPP, supra note 6, Art. 19.3.1

19 Id. Art. 19.3.2.

20 Id. Art. 19.3.1, n.4.

21 Id. ch. 19, U.S.-BN Labor Consistency Plan.

22 Id. ch. 19, U.S.-MY Labor Consistency Plan.

23 Id. ch. 19, U.S.-VN Plan for Enhancement of Trade and Labor Relations.

24 Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement, AFL-CIO, at http://www.aflcio.org/Issues/Trade/Trans-Pacific-Partnership-Free-Trade-Agreement-TPP (last visited Feb. 19, 2015); Pocan Statement, supra note 13.

25 Staff of Sen.Elizabeth Warren, Broken Promises:Decades of Failure to Enforce Labor Standards in Free Trade Agreements 2 (2015), available at http://www.warren.senate.gov/files/documents/BrokenPromises.pdf; Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement, AFL-CIO, at http://www.aflcio.org/Issues/Trade/Trans-Pacific-Partnership-Free-Trade-Agreement-TPP (last visited Feb. 19, 2015).

26 U.S. Gov’t Accountability Off., GAO-15-160, Free Trade Agreements: U.S. Partners Are Addressing Labor Commitments, but More Monitoring and Enforcement Are Needed 48 (2014) (stating that the U.S. DOL and USTR “have not systematically implemented all key elements of monitoring and enforcement with regard to [free trade agreement] labor provisions” in the past).

27 Rachel Brewster, News Tip: Trans-Pacific Partnership Could Penalize East Coast Businesses, Expert Says, Duke Today (Oct. 5, 2015), at https://today.duke.edu/2015/10/tip-pacific-trade-sh.

28 Statement on the TPP, supra note 2.

29 “With [Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei], we have worked very closely and very collaboratively on specificactions to be taken that will help bring their systems into compliance with international labor standards, and including cooperative efforts around capacity building and other measures.” Ambassador Froman, Office of the U.S. Trade Rep., Trans-Pacific Partnership Atlanta Ministerial Closing Press Conference, (Oct. 5, 2015), at https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/speechestranscripts/2015/october/transcript-trans-pacific.

30 The Facts on Investor-State Dispute Settlement, Tradewinds, at https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/blog/2014/March/Facts-Investor-State%20Dispute-Settlement-Safeguarding-Public-Interest-Protecting-Investors (last updated Mar. 2014).

31 TPP, supra note 6, Art. 9.18–9.29.

32 See, e.g., Trans-Pacific Partnership, Sierra Club, at http://www.sierraclub.org/trade/trans-pacific-partnership (last visited Nov. 30, 2015) (noting that corporations have launched over 600 cases against 100 governments under other free trade agreements); Investor-State Attacks: Empowering Foreign Corporations to Bypass our Courts, Challenge Basic Protections, Public Citizen, at http://www.citizen.org/investorcases (last visited Nov. 30, 2015).

33 TPP, supra note 6, Art. 9.15.

34 Id. Art. 9.17.

35 Id. Art. 29.5.

36 See, e.g., Elizabeth Warren, Opinion, The Trans-Pacific Partnership Clause Everyone Should Oppose, Wash. Post (Feb. 25, 2015), at http://www.warren.senate.gov/?p=op_ed&id=747.

37 Investor-State Dispute Settlement, Off. U.S. Trade Representative, at https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/fact-sheets/2015/march/investor-state-dispute-settlement-isds (last visited Nov. 30, 2015).

38 European Commission, Report on Online Public Consultation on Investment Protection and Investor-to-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (TTIP), EC Doc. SWD(2015) 3 final (Jan. 13, 2015).

39 EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement: Agreed Text as of January 2016, European Commission (Feb. 1, 2016), at http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=1437.

40 Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the European Union: Legally Reviewed Text, Art 8.27, European Commission (Feb. 29, 2016), at http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2016/february/tradoc_154329.pdf.

41 Vicki Needham, Nearly 160 House Lawmakers Warn Obama on Currency Provision, The Hill (Sept. 25, 2015), at http://thehill.com/policy/finance/255013-nearly-160-house-lawmakers-sign-currency-manipulation-letter; Anne Gearan & David Nakamura, Hillary Clinton Comes Out Against Obama’s Pacific Trade Deal, Wash. Post (Oct. 7, 2015), at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/10/07/hillary-clinton-comes-out-against-obamas-pacific-trade-deal/; Trans-Pacific Partnership, AAPC, at http://americanautocouncil.org/TPP (last visited Nov. 30, 2015).

42 Joint Declaration of the Macroeconomic Policy Authorities of Trans-Pacific Partner Countries, U.S. Dep’t Treasury (Nov. 5, 2015), available at https://www.treasury.gov/initiatives/Documents/TPP_Currency_November%202015.pdf

43 Kai Ryssdal, The Full Interview: President Obama Defends the TPP, Marketplace (Oct. 6, 2015), at http://www.marketplace.org/2015/10/06/economy/president-obama-talks-trade/full-interview-president-obamadefends-tpp.

44 Id.

45 Trans-Pacific Partnership: Frequently Asked Questions, Office of the U.S. Trade Rep. (Nov. 5, 2015), at https://medium.com/the-trans-pacific-partnership/frequently-asked-questions-on-the-trans-pacific-partnership-eddc8d87ac73#.ryi3qi7rp.

46 TPP, supra note 6, Art. 18.50.

47 42 U.S.C. § 262(k)(7).

48 Calmes, Jackie, Utah Senator, Crucial Ally to the Pacific Rim Trade Deal, Is Now Its Main Hurdle, N.Y. Times, Nov. 12, 2015, at A16 Google Scholar; Carolyn Y.Johnson, How the Controversy over Drug Prices Could Take Down Obama’s Trade Deal, Wash. Post (Oct. 9, 2015), at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/10/09/how-the-controversy-over-drug-prices-could-take-down-obamas-massive-trade-deal/.

49 Off. U.S. Trade Representative Press Release, Statement by Ambassador Froman on the Release of the Trans Pacific Partnership Text (Nov. 5, 2015), at https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2015/november/statement-ambassador-froman.

50 Simon Denyer, Vietnam Hopes Trade Deal Will Tip Balance Towards U.S., Away from China, Wash. Post (Dec. 8, 2015), at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/vietnam-hopes-trade-deal-will-tip-balance-toward-us-away-from-china/2015/12/04/b6e3749e-9783-11e5-aca6-1ae3be6f06d2_story.html.

51 Id.

52 Shear, Michael D., Refugees Must Not Be Turned Away, Obama Says, N.Y. Times, Nov. 21, 2015, at A6 Google Scholar.

53 Kiyoshi Takenaka, Thailand Says “Highly Likely” It Will Seek TPP Membership, Reuters (Nov. 27, 2015), at http://www.Reuters.com/article/us-trade-tpp-thailand-idUSKBN0TG0HO20151127.

54 Id.