Chantal Thomas, an attorney and expert on international law and the political economy, says the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a new trade agreement between the U.S. and other Pacific Rim countries, creates an international architecture that places investor rights at the top of a pyramid.
Bio: http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/faculty/bio_chantal_thomas.cfm
Thomas says: “The TPP continues the trend of ‘double-standardization’ of investment versus labor and environment laws. While the TPP is said to contain enforceable labor and environment commitments, those provisions will almost certainly be much weaker than the TPP's mechanisms for enforcement of investor rights.
“We're creating an international architecture that places investor rights at the top of a pyramid. What effects will that have, not only on our ability to create a just and harmonious global trading system, but on the ability of individual countries to ensure that all their laws are equally respected?”
RSS