The sinister agenda of the TPP

What is the purpose of a regional multi party trade pact for? To promote trade among its participating members. That must be the main objective of such a pact, an entity to benefit all parties economically. The key member of the TPP was the USA with 11 other partners.

When Trump came into office at the White House, he smelt a rat and immediately threw out the TPP into the toilet bowl. He did not want to enter into an agreement that is unfavourable to the Americans, economically. As far as money and business is concerned, Trump knows what he is talking about. He is a shrewd businessman.

His predecessors, the neocons, have a different agenda. Their objective is political, the containment of the growth of China by excluding China from the pact. They were prepared to pay some economic price for political gain for the American Empire.

What is China to a trade pact like the TPP? China is becoming the biggest consumer market in the world with 300 million middle class consumers, the size of the American population. And in another 10 years this would be 600 million. Why would a trade pact deliberately exclude the biggest consumer market in the world?

With the American market in the pact, it still makes some sense. Once the American market is out of the pact, the true economic value of such a pact diminishes instantly. Japan cannot replace the loss of the American market even if it wants to. The Japanese market is too small and the Japanese only buy Japanese goods.

The only reason left to continue this TPP is the sinister political agenda, to isolate China, to gang up against China. Who in the remaining 11 members would want this to continue as the raison d'tre of the TPP? Listen to their narrative and you can smell out the little USAs. On their part they have deliberately excluded China from theTPP. On the other hand they are questioning whether China would seek a China centric trade pact or regional order. This is despite the BRI and AIIB, two Chinese creations that have extended an open arm to all countries, excluding no one, two all embracing and inclusive organisations. The few countries left out are those that chose to ie you know who and their hostile intent towards China.

In a normal and genuine economic trade pact free from political motives, it would be reasonable for the remaining partners of this failed pact to recruit a bigger partner to replace the void left by the Americans. The very fact that some would want to continue in the same form, excluding China, speaks for the intent of some of these members, notably Japan and the little USAs. Japan wants to assume the leadership of this pact without asking the consent of the Australians and Canadians nor the other members. It is a convenient vehicle for the rise of Japan as the new Asia Pacific leader, though a declining one. Some former victims of the Japanese aggression in WW2 have forgotten the massacres and atrocities committed by the Japanese in their countries, against their people, and naively wanted to go to bed with the Japanese.

Would the TPP survive under the leadership of Japan to pit itself against China and deprive its other members from the growing and lucrative China market of 600 million middle class hungry consumers? China is negotiating and promoting the RCEP, another regional trade pact that does not exclude anyone.With its 600m middle class consumers and a market of 1.4b people, would the RCEP dwarf the TPP and turn it into oblivion to the disappoint of the anti China gang that talked inclusivity but practised exclusivity and division?