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Sunday, November 10, 2013

The Origins and Evolution of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) | Global Research

The Origins and Evolution of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) | Global Research:

 "It was only in February 2008, when President Bush announced that the US would join the deferred P-4 negotiations on financial services and investment, that the US came into the picture.

One key reason for the US’s interest in the trade talks is to be found in the US President’s 2008 Annual Report on the Trade Agreements Programme. It says, in part, ‘US participation in the TPP could position US businesses better to compete in the Asia-Pacific region, which is seeing the proliferation of preferential trade agreements among US competitors and the development of several competing regional economic integration initiatives that exclude the United States.’1 Apart from economic considerations, there are also geopolitical concerns, particularly with regard to the growing power and influence of China, something which became clearer with the Obama administration’s policy announcement of a military and diplomatic ‘pivot’ or ‘rebalance’ towards Asia. As a research paper for the US Congress notes:"