Leveling the playing field for American workers & American businesses.
Read the deal to see how it puts our workers, businesses, and values first.
Leveling the playing field for American workers & American businesses.
Read the deal to see how it puts our workers, businesses, and values first.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) writes the rules for global trade—rules that will help increase Made-in-America exports, grow the American economy, support well-paying American jobs, and strengthen the American middle class.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a new, high-standard trade agreement that levels the playing field for American workers and American businesses, supporting more Made-in-America exports and higher-paying American jobs. By eliminating over 18,000 taxes—in the form of tariffs—that various countries put on Made-in-America products, TPP makes sure our farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and small businesses can compete—and win—in some of the fastest-growing markets in the world. With more than 95 percent of the world’s consumers living outside our borders, TPP will significantly expand the export of Made-in-America goods and services and support American jobs.
TPP will make it easier for American entrepreneurs, farmers, and small business owners to sell Made-In-America products abroad by eliminating more than 18,000 taxes & other trade barriers on American products across the 11 other countries in the TPP—barriers that put American products at an unfair disadvantage today.
President Obama made the TPP negotiations the most transparent in American history, and now that the deal is complete the Administration can provide a comprehensive overview of the benefits it will deliver for the American people—and one of the most meaningful benefits is that the TPP will cut over 18,000 taxes that other countries impose on American exports. For the first time, this report details many of the most significant tax cuts that the TPP will guarantee for American exporters
The rules of the road are up for grabs in Asia. If we don't pass this agreement and write those rules, competitors will set weak rules of the road, threatening American jobs and workers while undermining U.S. leadership in Asia.
The rules of the road are up for grabs in Asia, home to some of the fastest growing markets in the world. If we don't pass this agreement and write those rules, our competitors will set weak rules of the road, threatening American jobs and workers and undermining U.S. leadership in Asia.
TPP strengthens the U.S. economy, which is the foundation of U.S. national security and a critical source of our influence abroad.
TPP helps ensure that the global economy reflects our interests and values by requiring other countries to play by fair wage, safe workplace, and strong environmental rules that we help set.
And TPP reinforces our commitment to this vital region, helping us strengthen our relationships with our partners and allies.
TPP is a platform for engagement and growth in the Asia-Pacific Region. It solidifies relationships with our allies and firmly establishes the United States as a leader in the Pacific.
TPP levels the playing field for American workers & American businesses, leading to more Made-in-America exports and more higher-paying American jobs here at home.
TPP advances our values, helping to build a global trading system that will allow our workers to effectively compete in the modern economy.
Explore the full text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, along with convenient
chapter summaries, on Medium.
Get your questions answered by clicking on the frequently asked questions below.
TPP’s strong and enforceable labor provisions will promote higher labor standards. In fact, TPP more than quadruples the number of people outside the United States that are covered by enforceable labor provisions.
TPP requires countries, through strong, enforceable provisions, to:
TPP also establishes specific labor reforms that Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei must undertake to meet their TPP obligations. The United States will not bring TPP into force with these countries if the reforms are not made. And we will not hesitate to take action against any countries that fail to live up to their obligations in the labor chapter, including through trade sanctions.
And in addition to TPP representing a renegotiation of NAFTA by holding Mexico to the fully enforceable labor provisions listed above, Mexico is also developing parallel labor reforms, including to better protect collective bargaining and reform its system for administering labor justice.
TPP’s groundbreaking provisions will help the environment. In fact, TPP includes the most comprehensive environmental commitments we have ever negotiated in a trade agreement and represents a significant opportunity to address pressing environmental challenges like illegal fishing and overfishing, wildlife trafficking, and illegal logging.
TPP partners account for approximately one quarter of global seafood catch and global timber and pulp production. This is why TPP is a historic opportunity to advance conservation and environmental protection across the Asia-Pacific. TPP includes pioneering commitments to combat illegal fishing, wildlife trafficking, and illegal logging, as well as first-ever commitments to prohibit some of the most harmful fisheries subsidies.
Groups like the World Wildlife Fund, The Humane Society, and The Nature Conservancy have praised TPP’s environmental chapter because TPP launches a race to the top, by requiring effective enforcement of environmental and conservation laws, enhancing transparency and public participation in environmental decision-making, and requiring stepped-up action and cooperation to address the region’s pressing environmental challenges.TPP also eliminates tariffs on environmentally-beneficial products and technologies, such as solar panels, wind turbines, wastewater treatment products, air pollution control mechanisms, as well as air and water quality monitors. By reducing barriers to trade on environmental technologies, these goods can be made more accessible to everyone.
No. ISDS cannot change law in the United States or any other country. No government measure (federal, state, or local) can be blocked or reversed under the ISDS provisions or any other part of TPP. The United States would never negotiate away its right to regulate in the public interest, and we don’t ask other countries to do so either. This is true with regard to public health and safety, the financial sector, the environment, and any other area where governments seek to regulate.
Put simply, ISDS is a mechanism to promote good governance and the rule of law. ISDS protects basic rights — such as protection against discrimination and expropriation without compensation — akin to those enshrined in U.S. law and the Constitution. We already provide these protections at home to foreign and domestic investors under U.S. law. That’s why — although we are party to 51 agreements with ISDS — the U.S. has never lost an ISDS case. Our trade agreements ensure the same kinds of protections to U.S. businesses and investors operating abroad, where they face a heightened risk of discrimination and bias.
TPP includes a number of enhancements that strengthen the transparency and integrity of the dispute settlement process under ISDS. These include making hearings open to the public, allowing the public and public interest groups to file amicus curiae submissions, ensuring that all ISDS awards are subject to review by domestic courts or international review panels, ensuring that governments have a way to dismiss claims that are without merit on an expedited basis, and more.
In addition, after consultations with Members of Congress, the United States pushed for and secured additional safeguards that will establish a code of conduct for ISDS arbitrators and facilitate the dismissal of frivolous claims, among other first-of-their-kind provisions.
ISDS ensures that a wide range of American businesses — including small businesses — are protected against unfair discrimination when investing abroad. This will benefit the millions of American workers employed by these companies, as outside analysis shows that about half of ISDS cases are initiated by small- and medium-sized businesses, or individual investors.
Learn more about ISDS and the landmark reforms included in TPP →
All TPP countries have made robust commitments in a joint declaration to address unfair currency practices.
We have worked with macroeconomic authorities of TPP countries to secure a joint declaration that recognizes our mutual interest in addressing unfair currency practices. The declaration includes (1) exchange rate and macroeconomic policy commitments that reflect IMF and G-20 standards; (2) transparency and reporting commitments on intervention data and other key data relating to currency valuation; and (3) a robust consultation mechanism among senior-level exchange rate officials.
The commitments will provide an important mechanism to address unfair currency practices.
At the same time, nothing in the joint declaration or TPP gives foreign countries the power to challenge our monetary policy. The American people have consistently said that they do not want trade agreements to tie our hands and prevent us from regulating as we see fit. Why should monetary policy be any different? Enforceable currency provisions were not included in TPP, because such provisions would have given our trading partners the power to challenge our legitimate monetary policy. Nearly every living former Federal Reserve Chair, CEA Chair, and Treasury Secretary agrees—Republicans and Democrats alike.
In addition, the Administration has made clear that it is inappropriate for any country to try to boost its exports or gain a competitive advantage by devaluing its currency. Through direct one-on-one negotiations and multilateral platforms like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the G-20, and the G-7, we have made substantial progress in moving countries away from devaluing their currencies to gain a competitive advantage.
No. To the contrary, TPP helps improve access to medicines for developing countries, while also promoting strong intellectual property protection that provides incentives for innovation that will deliver life-saving cures for the next generation.
TPP strikes a balance that helps make life-saving medicines more widely available, while also providing incentives for innovation of tomorrow’s new medicines.
TPP eliminates tariffs on medicines and medical devices, helping lower costs for hospitals, clinics, aid organizations, and consumers. For example, tariffs on life-saving medicines like amoxicillin, penicillin, and anti-malarial medicines will be eliminated, reducing the cost to access these drugs for residents of lower-income TPP countries.
For the first time in any trade agreement, TPP requires trading partners to tighten enforcement on counterfeit drugs that threaten consumer health and safety. TPP strengthens health and medicine supply systems throughout the region by promoting government transparency and due process standards based on those found here in the U.S.
Additionally, TPP explicitly recognizes the Doha Declaration on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and Public Health, which affirms the rights of countries to take measures to protect public health.
Finally, nothing in TPP restricts access to medicines in the United States, requires changes to U.S. intellectual property laws or regulations, or weakens the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid, or the Veteran’s Health Administration.
