Introduction
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is also known as the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement. This is an organization that was formed by eight countries in the Asia-Pacific Region to uplift the economic status. It was established in the year 2002 (Keohane, p. 310). The organization was formed to uplift the economic status of the various nations and improve social interrelation and economic integration among the involved countries. The agreement advocates for free trade among the member nations. The Agreement works towards improving and expanding the economic standards of the nations involved through the elimination and lowering of the tariffs where investable which acts as barriers to trade.
The member countries have the same objectives although they have different cultures and different geographical locations they were able to close those differences to achieve their objectives (Capling). Some argue that although the aim is to increase prosperity it on the other hand ends up exploiting the workers. Membership to the organization is likely to grow since the agreement has allowed room for an increase in membership. Several countries have shown interest in joining the organization such as Malaysia.
Most of the nations involved have a keen interest in the preservation of oceans as they have a specialty in marine fishing.
Those nations are among the world’s greatest producers of fish. The United States ranks the second greatest importer of seafood in the world. TPP, therefore, has had a keen interest not only in the preservation of oceans but also in the preservation of all-natural resources.
The TPP addresses the factors that may lead to harming of the marine environment through the setting of policies that protect marine life and marine trade and programs dealing with improvement and management of natural resources to promote sustainable domestic and international trade and avoid overexploitation.
It is argued that the TPP can work due to the small number involved and the efforts they invest in meeting their goals.
It is said that the TPP will continuously grow since the member countries have their advantages such as the United States have a huge economy, Vietnam capitalizing on the exports and we have the others especially Australasia and Peru being among the world’s top agricultural exporters.
TPP is less likely to be affected by politics since the organization has put in place factors that discourage such tendencies.
They also work towards the improvement of industrial and agricultural growth. They have also been able to put off the United States Congressional interest since they had some interests in being incorporated in the negotiations.
TPP is however facing several challenges.
The most notable ones were highlighted by House Representatives such as having Vietnam posing a great danger as it is likely to be an obstacle because they ignore the International Labor Standards that have been put in place and also violate other policies that have been put in place such as property rights. The Communist p[party also is a threat as it acts as a barrier in terms of speech as it hinders the freedom of speech thus the members are limited in the negotiations as to how much they can discuss.
The other threat that has been posed by domestic industries has been having differences as all industries are focused on their specific interests thus bringing in conflicts. The United States Trade and International Trade News Service said that there have been many submissions of various requests and points of concern and most were based on the sources of the rules and the Intellectual Property Right (IPR). It, therefore, proves difficult to address all those individual differences and interests of the individual industries thus the problem remains unsolved.
Why Canada Should Join the TPP
Thus far Canada has not signed any Free Trade Agreement in the Asian region. This means that they may be shut out of the organization which is one of the greatest facilitators to economic expansion and especially in the twenty-first century (Sabine, p. 219). They should put into consideration the other factors which could lead them to be among the top competitors in the dairy and poultry fields other than denying that chance for fear that other nations will import their products which may deteriorate their domestic industries.
The Prime minister feels that this would open up new markets for Canada’s dairy and Poultry products and would be a chief competitor to New Zealand which is leading in the global Markets instead of limiting and risking their economy in the name of protecting the domestic markets and claiming about the tariffs (Haas, p. 34). He also argues that there is an expanding need for proteins among the Asian nations as there is the emergence of middle classes who are the largest consumers of proteins thus a market for the Canadians.
Other than dairy and poultry production in Canada, there are so many other potentials and the government cannot afford to risk the economy of the nation because they want to favor the few producers of dairy and poultry products and to keep them rich. They must forget about the political favors they are likely to achieve and think about society in general (Agriculture and Agri-food Canada). They must also see the new markets this opportunity is going to grant them in the competing world.
The TPP enables member countries to integrate into the economic perspectives thus allowing them to expound on the economic growth in the next few years which will raise the standards of the people and strengthen the already existing economic ties (Haas, p. 28). Once they accomplish the projects they have in the TPP, they will form a bloc that is likely to shut out the United States and Canada from investing and this will, in turn, harm the economy and employment. In terms of employment because the involvement with the TPP accounts for over 200,000 jobs and earns the nation about twenty-five billion U.S dollars annually.
The other important factor is that TPP will address some security goals. It has been the will of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) which was started in the year 1989 to have the United States in its membership (Volberding). This is because they believe that the United States has a stable economy and is a superpower, it will also offer military security. This was aimed at reducing Chinese supremacy over the other Asian nations.
Lee Kuan, a Prime Minister in Singapore felt that the Americans may be on their way to losing relevance if they failed to get involved in TPP since the Chinese were fast gaining supremacy. The Americans were therefore to get politically and economically active in the Asian region as a way to ensure that they remain ahead of the Chinese. There has also been ongoing tension between the two nations as the two have been having rapid economic growth and the United States feels that they may be overtaken by the Chinese.
TPP works towards the conservation of natural resources and promoting agriculture for the member countries. This implies that Canada would be no exception and they would therefore improve their agricultural practices and thus they need not worry. They have established policies that protect the natural environment and protect the agriculture of the places. Furthermore, all the other member countries have their agricultural practices which have not been affected by their joining the TPP.
Why Canada Should Not Join TPP
Many have a feeling that through the cheap imports, agriculture will be at risk because many people will opt for cheaper means.
The nation will not be able to feed itself thus posing danger to the people at lower levels (Bashevkin, p. 123).
Again they fear that the farmers who have for so long depended on farming will be left helpless as people will opt for the cheap products which are readily available as there are no import revenues.
They feel that Canada is sufficient the way it is and there is fear that in case they sight the Free Trade Treaty, they are exposing their nations to risks of dependency on other nations for most of the things which they would otherwise produce. For example, has been trying to negotiate with the Canadians for oil and minerals despite their well in the economy.
The Canadians are afraid that this dependency deprives them of their pride as a nation.
The Canadian domestic industries offer job opportunities and cater for over half of the employment opportunities in the nation either directly or indirectly and thus they feel that signing the treaty is risking of all those people who depend on farming. The government has not offered any option to the people who depend on farming in case the ideas they have when joining TPP are not achieved (Keohane, p. 324). This is also risking the economy of the nation many view it as a lack of consideration to the low-income earners who solely depend on farming.
There is also the likelihood that New Zealand is going to outdo the rest of the nations in the dairy market and thus it will be difficult to bring negotiations over the moderation of the policies governing the dairy sectors (Goodspeed). This is because it has already gained ground and thus has already had the chance to penetrate the other nations. Various organizations associated with agricultural production are holding various meetings to weigh out their options on joining the TPP.
Canada is determined to protect the social rights of its members and thus may not be willing to risk the interest of the inhabitants. They do not see the need of joining the TPP and they argue that since they already have a North American Free Trade Agreement, it caters to their needs as it protects all their investments (Reinalda and Bertjan, p. 112). To them, they look for the treaties that address culture preservation, ensure that there is the conservation of the natural environment, and finally cater to the social interests and programs that are already designed.
The United States seems to be getting into the organization to compete with China as a way to maintain its superiority (Capling).
They also have the aim of showing China that they’re in the lead, this is in a way a very unhealthy idea for joining a group since it only leads to unhealthy competition and a greater extent it may lead to political instability which in the long run affect the TPP in general thus Canadians should not feel safe to risk their economy as well as the social standards of their people.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is important to realize that the other nations are developing and as a result of globalization, it is difficult to leave as an individual nation. If the Canadians risk not signing the treaty they will, in the end, suffer because the nations may become a bloc thus they will not have the opportunity of investing in the nations and thus their economy will also suffer. Their signing also means they will have to devise other ways of protecting the farmers and the people who are affected to avoid ruining their lives. It is therefore important that the government sign in the TPP treaty as this is a competitive world although they are various limitations as they may devise mechanisms of dealing with those issues.
Besides signing of the treaty may be a way to reach greater heights economically as it may open new markets for their products and introduce other economic activities.
Works Cited
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- Goodspeed, Peter. “Echelon” Online Surveillence. (2004)
- Haas, Peterson.M. “Introduction. Epistemic communities and international policy coordination,” International Organization. 1998. 46, 1:1-35.
- Keohane, Kieran. Symptoms of Canada: An Essay on the Canadian Identity. McGil: McGill-Queen’s University.1997.
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- Volberding, Peter. The Trans-Pacific Partnership(TPP): A Panglossian Endevour.2010.