Friend,
Mass graves. Sex trafficking. Forced labor. Our government should want nothing to do with forging economic ties with countries whose economies run off modern day slavery.
But thanks to an appalling move by President Obama, the US is now on our way to signing the super-secret Trans-Pacific Partnership with one of the worst human trafficking offenders, Malaysia.
Congress was on track to ban the US from signing trade deals with the worst of the worst, including Malaysia. Then two days ago, the Obama Administration suddenly announced that Malaysia’s status in the human trafficking report would be “upgraded” in an effort to sidestep Congressional regulation. Meanwhile, almost nothing has changed in Malaysia for people subjected to obscene working conditions.
This is why the TPP needs to be transparent. How can we trust the President that he’s got all of our best interests at heart in negotiating this trade deal, when he pulls shameless ploys like this?
You are one of 150,000 people who've signed our petition calling for the TPP and other trade deals to be made public. Can you help us spread the word?
- Forward this email to a friend, and direct them to http://action.sumofus.org/a/trade-transparency/.
- Share the campaign on Facebook.
The TPP is almost certainly a disaster waiting to happen, but we don’t know the truth because everything is done behind closed doors. If you’re a corporate lobbyist, you’re invited in, while the rest of us are left in the dark. All we have to go on are the leaked chapters that Wikileaks has shared, which let us know that everything -- from our laws to our food to our internet to our medicines -- may be put at risk to maximize corporate profits.
President Obama wants us to trust him that this trade deal will be “the most progressive trade deal of all time.” But how can we, when he uses cynical maneuvers to push the TPP forward at the expense of Malaysian people forced to work in slave-like conditions? If he’s willing to do something this offensive, what else is happening inside those closed doors?
Negotiators are signaling that they will almost certainly finalize the TPP when they gather in two weeks at a swanky resort in Hawaii. After that, there’s no more opportunity to change the deal -- because our representatives voted to ‘fast track’ the TPP through Congress, they only gave themselves an up or down vote with no option to amend the agreement.
With so little time, and in light of this latest maneuver, we need to massively ramp up our pressure on President Obama and other world leaders to make the deal public.
Thanks for all you do,
Kaytee and the rest of us
P.S. Campaigners in Malaysia have been standing against trafficking for years. There are some signs of progress. But if the US goes into a trade deal without demanding fast progress and investment in real support for trafficking survivors, then
it’s all too easy for the Malaysian government to take their foot off the gas again.
Share this petition to help shine light on the TPP and stop this deal.
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The TRUTH will set you FREE.
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