Month: September 2022

OBAMA AND CAMERON "say strong economies and democratic institutions will defeat "those who think they can muzzle freedom of speech and expression with violence." In a joint article for the Times of London newspaper, the two leaders say that "our ability to defend our freedoms is rooted in our economic strength and the values that we cherish." https://lnkd.in/drFvpBi View in LinkedIn

ECONOMIC BOOSTERISM by two heads of state based on terrorism is disingenuous relating to TTIP Trade talks. I have covered in great detail, and will continue to cover, key issues where the two trading groups have profoundly different values. "Harmonizing" these polar approaches without a simple cram-down does not seem possible. View in LinkedIn

THE CONVENIENT COMMON ENEMY political tactic for quelling dissent on domestic issues (in particular, stuck trade talks) is a blatant attempt to brush major differences under the rug by appealing to jingoism and flag waving, and capitalizing on justified public outrage at the Paris attacks. These topics are not connected. Simplistic and manipulative. View in LinkedIn

TTIP TRADE TALK STICKING POINTS, mostly related to "regulation harmonization" where the two groups are world apart, to say the least: "differences between EU and US legislation: human medicines and medical devices, cosmetics, food and nutrition, sanitary and phyto-sanitary, nanomaterials, cloning, raw materials and energy, and motor vehicles." https://lnkd.in/dMW_Zsn View in LinkedIn

EU PUBLICATION: investment protection and investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in TTIP. (Jan 13, 2015). https://lnkd.in/dq8JdSK View in LinkedIn

TPP PARALLEL TRADE TALKS. "The expansion of (TPP) into a 12-country Pacific Rim PTA is widely seen as an effort to develop a deeper set of trade disciplines where the Doha Round of WTO negotiations had thus far failed to do so ... by 2025 ... the TPP could mean a 0.53% increase in global GDP." https://lnkd.in/dwrgrDS View in LinkedIn

HALF OF GLOBAL ECONOMY IN BALANCE: "And this is going to encompass 40% of the world’s economy!? Actually, it’s worse than that. Because there is another agreement on the other side of the globe, one that will encompass 46% of the world’s economy (TTIP)". https://lnkd.in/dTMdysT View in LinkedIn

PROHIBITION OF GOVERNMENT PROMOTION OF TOBACCO. "The Doggett and Durbin Amendments, as well as Presidential Executive Order 13913, prohibit federal agencies from promoting the sale or export of tobacco products. These laws have been ignored in recent trade negotiations." https://lnkd.in/dtMxZcK View in LinkedIn

SHAMED BY OVERSEAS PRACTICES OF TOBACCO, "In 1997, Congress conditioned the appropriations of several U.S. government agencies on those funds not being used to promote tobacco internationally." Tobacco could not be part of publicly funded trade promotions. But this has been entirely ignored in practice. https://lnkd.in/dDpdMVf View in LinkedIn

EXCLUDE TOBACCO FROM TALKS? "Should tobacco be like any other product in U.S. trade? The question bedeviled U.S. policymakers for decades, but it has now arisen again, with much controversy, in the context of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the pending trade deal between the United States and eleven other countries." https://lnkd.in/dDpdMVf View in LinkedIn