The Trans-Pacific Partnership, a secretive international trade pact under consideration by the Obama administration, would force American policy to conform to the whims of foreign corporations operating in the U.S. by allowing them to appeal key regulations to an international tribunal. That body would have the power to override U.S. law and issue penalties for failure to comply with its rulings.
A document from President Obama’s free trade negotiations that was leaked Wednesday morning revealed an administration proposal to allow multinational corporations doing business in the United States to police themselves via an international tribunal staffed by lawyers on the companies’ payroll. The scheme obliterates a 2008 promise by Obama to do just the opposite.