The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a trade agreement negotiated in secret between the U.S. and 11 other countries.  Congress approved “fast-tracking” the agreement which means they can vote yes or no and not make any modifications. The final vote will take place as early as February 2016.  The following is a brief summary of some of the most egregious parts of the TPP and we are urging our Representatives in Congress to vote NO!

• Extraordinary new rights and privileges will be granted to foreign corporations and investors that  prioritize corporate rights over the sovereign rights of nations to govern their own affairs, advancing the desires of global corporations rather than the needs of working families and our communities. 
• Since the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, the U.S. has lost nearly 5 million manufacturing jobs.  The TPP would give exorbitant privileges for firms that relocate to low-wage countries, the net result being job losses and wage losses for anyone making less than $88,000 a year, further increasing U.S. income inequality.
• The TPP will increase risks to our air, water, and climate: e.g. by requiring the U.S. government to automatically approve all exports of liquefied natural gas to TPP countries, imposing new limits on government efforts to tackle climate disruption, and punishing renewable energy programs that spur local job creation.   
• The TPP will make affordable drugs less accessible, flood the United States with unsafe imported food, and increase trade with countries notorious for severe violations of human rights.
• The Investor-State Dispute Settlement system (ISDS) Comprised of three corporate attorneys,  will be authorized to order unlimited sums of taxpayer compensation for health, environmental, financial and other public interest policies seen as frustrating the corporations' “expected future profits.