PM stays coy on US-led trade pact

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PM stays coy on US-led trade pact

YINGLUCK TO ASK OBAMA FOR DETAILS

Published: 18 Nov 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra says she will not give a commitment to US President Barack Obama Sunday that Thailand will join the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade agreement.

However, Ms Yingluck said she would ask for more details of the TPP -- which has been criticised by some US congressmen and foreign policy experts for not being transparent -- so it could be further studied. Local academics and consumer advocates have warned that entry into the TPP would hurt consumers and Thailand's economic competitiveness.

"A number of parties have expressed concern about Thailand's participation in the TPP," Ms Yingluck said.

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DONHUAN
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Discussion 11 : 18 Nov 2012 at 13.3311
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Whether, TPP is “US led” or otherwise, the fact remains that the US is the only member country actively “persuading” other countries to join the TPP suggest that the US is actually “leading from behind”. The terms and conditions imposed by the TPP is very tough and targeted, even for many advance economies like Japan and S,Korea; in effect, it will place many member countries, even those pioneering nations, at a distinct disadvantage, except the US. How is it possible for the TPP to accommodate all these countries which are in various stages of the economic development that advance economies have also find difficulties joining?
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wakeup
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Discussion 10 : 18 Nov 2012 at 13.2710
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#7 In Cambodia - there are ZERO restrictions on foreign ownership of land, & guess what? 100s of thousands have been displaced at gun point by regiments in the Cambodian army bought off as mercenaries by foreign multinationals. All "free trade" does is open the door to corruption & exploitation at levels local despots could only dream of. Read Guardian's "Conflict over land in Cambodia is taking a dangerous turn."
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homosapien
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Discussion 9 : 18 Nov 2012 at 13.239
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By protecting intellectual propterties in general and ensuring monoplized powers from innovations, though only temporarily, in particular, we expect more and more innovations will flourish. In this regard, potentially, more and more drugs, which will save lives of millions of people not only in Thailand but the world over but which might not exist at all in the light of uncertainties and free riders, are expected to find their way to the market. Make no mistake, costly life-saving drugs are much better than no drug at all! (Though I doubt that the 25-year protection may be too long.)
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wakeup
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Discussion 8 : 18 Nov 2012 at 13.078
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Free trade is a free-for-all for multinationals like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Monsanto etc., who aren't just above the laws, they themselves WRITE the laws. TPP is big-business poison. Trade should supplement your economy, not prop it up. Global interdependencies are reckless and already evidently disastrous (e.g. NAFTA, EU, etc.)
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felixqui
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Discussion 7 : 18 Nov 2012 at 11.457
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Naturally, Thailand does not want any sort of free and open trade agreement, that would remove the artificial and unjust barriers that the inept and unjust elites need do prosper, by, for example, buying farmers' land at a pittance because the market is deliberately skewed to facilitate that rip-off, and paying staff a pittance for filthy conditions because ... the law is designed to facilitate that abuse rather than encourageing efficiency and justice for all Thai people that would come from free and open market competition.
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onlyasking
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Discussion 6 : 18 Nov 2012 at 11.346
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D1 Countries that are part of the WTO can't impose unilateral tariffs on products and services. They can only impose tariffs within the WTO framework. All the countries involved in the TPP are also signatries of the WTO.
D2 When did the Thai government asked to be part of the TPP. I missed that one. What I do know is that certain Thai people not the government talked about Thailand joining the TPP.
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DickFarang
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Discussion 5 : 18 Nov 2012 at 11.285
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Since when is the TPP “US-led” ?

The founding fathers of the TPP were Chile, New Zealand and Singapore.

Before you write that the EU is “US-led”: their founding fathers were Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg.
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whatajoke
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Discussion 4 : 18 Nov 2012 at 11.124
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The US has a track record in using its stature to bully others into a trade agreement that suits the US way of doing business best. There are benefits but only if you firmly pursuing the US model of international trade (ie what's best for us personally), Thailand might not be in a position to fit the model since many of its advantages (ie copying other people's ideas or cornering a monopoly) are at odds with the American thinking. The US spurned the WTO for its own bi-lateral agreements, I wonder why?
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chuckinbkk
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Discussion 3 : 18 Nov 2012 at 10.063
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The Prime Minister should never agree to a trade pack with the USA. There are many countries in Asia and Europe who offer trade agreements.
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watchdog
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Discussion 2 : 18 Nov 2012 at 09.272
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Obama has not been trying to sell the TPP. The BP itself pointed out several days ago that Obama cannot invite Thailand to join the TPP. The TPP unanimously must invite Thailand and Obama not going to go out on a limb and extend invitation when there is no such support. What really happened is that Japan first said it wanted to join the TPP and this so alarmed Thailand that within days of Japan's announcement Thailand asked to join as well. But when the US told Thailand it couldn't simply invite Thailand to the party, the Thai press and academia, in an obvious effort to save face, said Thailand needed to be wary of the TPP.
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PM stays coy on US-led trade pact | Bangkok Post: news