So Trump thinks he can just waltz back in to the TPP? I think it may be rather more difficult than he expects.
The only reason that the revised TPP agreement finally came together for the rest of the negotiating countries was because once the US dropped out, 22 provisions that the US wanted and nobody else wanted, were dropped.
It's now the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
The 22 provisions that were dropped in order to reach agreement mostly involved more restrictive intellectual property provisions.
A sampling:
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countries will be allowed to continue with their public healthcare and pharmaceutical programs
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the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism has been narrowed so that national governments can continue to regulate in the public interest without being sued by foreign businesses
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financial services won't be as open to the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism as they would have been in the original TPP
- the copyright term for films, music, and various publication won't have to be extended from 50 years to 70 years
- national protections for pharmaceuticals won't have to be extended or generics further restricted
- government procurement at the national, state, and local level won't be forced against their will to open up to foreign contracts
- no new laws for breaking digital locks on copyrighted works beyond what currently exists
- no change to laws relating to rights management information about copyrighted works
- no new obligations around the liability of ISPs regarding online copyright infringement
- no new protections required for encrypted programme-carrying satellite and cable programme signals
- individual nations can continue to maintain public monopoly postal services if they wish
- treatment of intellectual property remains aligned with international rules and is not expanded
Anyone think Trump or the crony capitalists he serves will still want to climb on board the new and improved TPP?
I opposed the TPP, but I think the CPTPP, while not perfect, is a much better deal, much more an actual trade deal rather than a strong-arming by the strongest player to get what only it wants and nobody else wants.
Who knows what nasty shit he can pull to get his own way, but on getting back into the TPP that Obama negotiated and fought for -- well, that's just gone, and good riddance.