Feeling Overwhelmed by all The Trade Abbreviations? Hope this Basic Guide Helps! Click on Pic or “See More” for Details Feeling Overwhelmed by all The Trade Abbreviations? Hope this Basic Guide Helps! 1) USTR = United States Trade Representative The office of the USTR negotiates trade agreements with its corollaries from other countries. 2) FTAs = Free Trade Agreements Free Trade Agreements are primarily not about trade, but are huge corporate power grabs. 3) WTO = World Trade Organization The WTO took effect Jan. 1, 1995, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO deals with regulation of trade between participating countries by providing a framework for negotiating and formalizing trade agreements and a dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing participants adherence to WTO agreements. The WTO’s goal is to liberalize (deregulate) international trade. Multinationals love the WTO while many others believe it to be a threat to the principles of democracy. 4) NAFTA = North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement Passed 20 years ago, NAFTA serves as a template for the TPP/TPPA and TTIP/TAFTA. Since NAFTA there has been a loss of 5 million American jobs and a staggering trade deficit. NAFTA’s Chapter 11 is the model for the “Investor-State” Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms in the TPP and TTIP. 5) ISDS - Investor-State Dispute Settlement This is the tribunal apparatus by which a foreign corporation can sue a government for potential loss of profit. ISDS judges and lawyers rotate positions and come from a corporate background. ISDS tribunals are not bound by precedent or accountable to an electorate. There is no appeal process. 6) TPP = Trans-Pacific Partnership TPPA = Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement While Americans say TPP, many other countries negotiating the TPP refer to this agreement as the TPPA. The TPP is currently being negotiated among the US, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Brunei, Malaysia, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam, Singapore. 7) TAFTA = Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement has been renamed: TTIP = Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership TTIP is the USTR official acronym for the current name of the free trade agreement now in negotiations with the U.S. and E.U. TAFTA is an acronym for an earlier permutation of the TTIP agreement. It was the Transatlantic Free Trade Area, while the last word was changed to Agreement in negotiating texts. Many Americans continue to use the acronym TAFTA in references to the deal as a way to remind people that this agreement is like NAFTA - but worse. 8) TISA = Trade In Service Agreement The draft text to this agreement was just released by WikiLeaks on June 19, 2014. TISA will roll back bank regulations to the deregulated state prior to the global economic collapse. Regulations would be deemed barriers to trade.” TISA’s main goals are to deregulate and privatize services. 9) CETA = Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement CETA is being negotiated between Canada and the European Union. _________________ More info on “Free” Trade Agreements at Expose the TPP - USA and ExposeTheTPP.org
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 19:49:21 +0000