The activists attending the Florida Against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) event at the Roosevelt 2.0 in Ybor City on Saturday marched together in the belief that the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a "global corporate takeover" and a "New World Order" that must be stopped.
According to Public Citizen, the (TPP) is a trade agreement between nations of the Pacific Rim. The nations include the United States, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and Japan. The public, as well as Congress, have been kept in the dark about these negotiations. Only the people involved in the negotiations and about 600 U.S. corporations have been kept in the loop.
Terry Weeks, a former chair of the SunCoast Sierra Club, spoke out about the environmental fears associated with TPP. She reminded the audience that "TPP is more than just tariffs and that it is more than just trade." Only 5 or so of the chapters are directly associated with trade.
This article appears in Mar 7-13, 2013.