Chitchat Pinky Loong Expressed Disappointment TPP is Dead

channelnewsasia.com
Singapore 'disappointed' TPP may not be ratified after Trump win: PM Lee
By Lim Jia Qi
"We spent five, six years negotiating the TPP. Finally we got this very elaborate, carefully balanced deal, several thousand pages of texts. It's not so easy to say 'We change the terms'," says Mr Lee.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a joint press conference with President Joko Widodo in Semarang, Indonesia (Photo: Lim Jia Qi)

SEMARANG, Indonesia: Singapore is “disappointed” that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement may not be ratified before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday (Nov 14).

“We feel disappointed that the TPP looks very unlikely or will not be passed now, ratified now, before Jan 21 when the new president swears in,” said Mr Lee in a wrap-up interview with Singapore media after a leaders’ retreat with Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

His comments came days after US President Barack Obama's administration suspended efforts to win congressional approval for the Asian free-trade deal.

“I do not know what the new president's position will be,” Mr Lee added, but he noted President-elect Trump had stated his position clearly during his campaign trail and that he had "no sympathy" for the TPP.

“I think that is disappointment for all of us who worked so hard to negotiate the TPP. But that is where it stands," said Mr Lee.

The 12 countries that signed the TPP will meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Peru this week to discuss the situation, he said.

Asked about the possibility of revising the terms of the deal to exclude the US and include countries such as China, Mr Lee said that would not be easy. “We spent five, six years negotiating the TPP. Finally we got this very elaborate, carefully balanced deal, several thousand pages of texts. It's not so easy to say 'We change the terms',” he said.

“What are you going to change? Who is going to give up more or less and what is the balance? And if you bring in a new country, it's a completely new deal all together. So effectively you'll be talking about a new exercise," Mr Lee added.

“Because a new country - particularly if it's a big one - it's not going to sign on to everything which has already been agreed before they were participants.”

Mr Lee pointed out that it is premature to pursue very definite alternative possibilities for now. “Let's first assess how everybody feels and what they think could be done as a practical, second-best or solution for the time being,” he said.

todayonline.com
PM Lee disappointed by TPP failure, will seek more clarity at Apec meet
Published: 9:00 PM, November 14, 2016

SEMARANG — Expressing disappointment that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will not be ratified before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday (Nov 14) he hopes more clarity on a resolution to the stalled pact could emerge at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meetings later this week.

Speaking to Singapore media at the end of his leaders’ retreat in Semarang, Indonesia, Mr Lee said it was premature to discuss alternatives to the TPP — given Mr Trump’s opposition to the trade deal during his campaign — but he hopes for a practical solution.

Mr Lee noted that it was “quite well-known” that Mr Trump “had no sympathy for the TPP at all” during the United States presidential campaign. The American tycoon’s position on the 12-member trade deal covering about 40 per cent of global output was “a disappointment to all of us who worked so hard to negotiate the TPP”, he added.

When they meet in Peru for the Apec Summit later this week, leaders of nations in favour of the TPP, including President Barack Obama, will exchange notes and “see what we can do about the situation”, Mr Lee said.

On the campaign trail, Mr Trump had strongly opposed the TPP. He had said he wanted to renegotiate the deal despite other world leaders warning that such a move would unravel the entire package. Following Mr Trump’s electoral victory last week, Republican congressional leaders confirmed that the TPP was most likely going to fall through. A few days ago, the Obama administration announced that it had suspended efforts to win congressional approval for the trade deal and that the fate of the TPP was left to Mr Trump and the Republican lawmakers.

On Monday, Mr Lee was asked about suggestions that the terms for TPP could be reviewed or that could include countries like Russia and China. He replied that that would make it a completely “new animal”.

Noting that the TPP is a very elaborate and carefully-balanced deal that was a result of five to six years of negotiations, Mr Lee said it is “not so easy to say we’ll change the terms”.

“What are you going to change? Who is going to give up more or less? And what’s the balance — and if you bring in a new country, it’s a completely new deal altogether,” he added.

Furthermore, if the new entrant is a big country, they will not sign on to what has already been agreed upon before they were participants, said Mr Lee. “They will want to reopen everything. So effectively you’ll be talking about a new exercise."

But it was still premature to pursue definitive alternatives, added Mr Lee. “Let’s first assess how everybody feels and what they think could be done as a practical second best or solution for the time being.”

Singapore has been among those calling on the US to ratify the TPP soon. In an interview with Time magazine editor-at-large Ian Bremmer published last month, Mr Lee had said a failure by the US to ratify the TPP will be a “very big setback for America”.

With some countries, such as Japan, ratifying the pact, the US’ failure to deliver on the TPP will affect the country’s credibility. “Your standing goes down with many countries around the world,” Mr Lee said then.

A spokesperson for Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry told TODAY previously that the Republic will continue to work with the US and other TPP parties to realise the benefits of the agreement.

“Singapore and the US are like-minded partners, who share robust and long-standing bilateral economic relations. The US enjoys a healthy trade surplus with Singapore, and our companies have created good jobs in both countries,” said the spokesperson.

This is how devoid of leadership and bankrupt of vision the current PAP cabinet is: Pinky has pinned all his hopes of reviving the moribund Singapore economy on the TPP, with no alternative backup plan. Now that the TPP is dead, he's panicking and flailing about, groping for a 'second-best' solution.

Talk about six years of putting all your eggs in one wonky basket. Pathetic.

How does tpp benefit the average joe? Probably benefits big corporation and biz cronies more

iluvgst said:

How does tpp benefit the average joe? Probably benefits big corporation and biz cronies more

Click to expand...

Already mentoned many times:
1. Big Corp and Banks can move their capital around without restriction -> Benefit Sinkie Banks and Big 4 here
2. More Big Corp will set up regional HQ here with primary purpose of point 1 (offshore tax haven)
3. Can hire FTs without restriction -> Benefit Elites' companies and Big Corps. More FTs means more profits for Singapore's infrastructure asset owners (malls, condos, transport, telecom)
4. Point 2 will strengthen Singapore's role as a transhipment centre -> preventive strategy against China's Silkroad strategy and competition from Shanghai.

Ultimate aim is to keep asset inflation indefinite.

It a bad sign of things to come when you see lots (more and more) of young people at transport hubs peddling condo, insurance, credit cards, loans, investment products. All based on asset inflation, property flipping, gambling.

Pinkieslut said:

Already mentoned many times:
1. Big Corp and Banks can move their capital around without restriction -> Benefit Sinkie Banks and Big 4 here
2. More Big Corp will set up regional HQ here with primary purpose of point 1 (offshore tax haven)
3. Can hire FTs without restriction -> Benefit Elites' companies and Big Corps. More FTs means more profits for Singapore's infrastructure asset owners (malls, condos, transport, telecom)
4. Point 2 will strengthen Singapore's role as a transhipment centre -> preventive strategy against China's Silkroad strategy and competition from Shanghai.

Ultimate aim is to keep asset inflation indefinite.

It a bad sign of things to come when you see lots (more and more) of young people at transport hubs peddling condo, insurance, credit cards, loans, investment products. All based on asset inflation, property flipping, gambling.

Click to expand...

if this is why pinkie so desperately wants the tpp, then it goes to show he and his team have run out of ideas.

Pinkieslut said:

It a bad sign of things to come when you see lots (more and more) of young people at transport hubs peddling condo, insurance, credit cards, loans, investment products. All based on asset inflation, property flipping, gambling.

Click to expand...

All this can be summed up in two words: rentier economy.

Basically, a rentier economy is one in which the state and big investors seek to extract economic rent — activities which involve investing and flipping in natural resources (e.g. land) land and financial instruments (e.g. currency, derivatives) without the production of real goods and services and without benefiting the masses.

Over time this leads to asset inflation and the formation of a bubble, which will eventually burst. And the whole cycle starts again, each time leaving more people in financial ruin and widening the income gap.

The top 1% of the world now owns more assets than the other 99%. Go figure.

This CCB Loong is still harping on spilled milk.
There will be no fucking TPP, just shut the fuck up and stop sulking like a little fucking bitch.

yellowarse said:

All this can be summed up in two words: rentier economy.

Basically, a rentier economy is one in which the state and big investors seek to extract economic rent — activities which involve investing and flipping in natural resources (e.g. land) land and financial instruments (e.g. currency, derivatives) without the production of real goods and services andithout benefiting the masses.

Over time this leads to asset inflation and the formation of a bubble, which will eventually burst. And the whole cycle starts again, each time leaving more people in financial ruin and widening the income gap.

The top 1% of the world now owns more assets than the other 99%. Go figure.

Click to expand...

in additon , over time this leads to siilyppoore financial sector being dependant on and beholden to
these foreign companies.
the system allows money to be pull out instantly and easily.
if that happens , sillypoore will experience what happened to thailand in 1997.

yellowarse said:

This is how devoid of leadership and bankrupt of vision the current PAP cabinet is: Pinky has pinned all his hopes of reviving the moribund Singapore economy on the TPP, with no alternative backup plan. Now that the TPP is dead, he's panicking and flailing about, groping for a 'second-best' solution.

Talk about six years of putting all your eggs in one wonky basket. Pathetic.

Click to expand...

Lhl was obviously hoping Clinton will win and u-turn her opposition on TPP. The problem here is TPP is heavily dependent on USA as such, once the single big player back off, it renders the whole pact null and useless. Had TPP been more inclusive to countries like china, Russia it will still carry on if USA decides not to join.

Lhl only got himself to blame .

greedy and cunning said:

in additon , over time this leads to siilyppoore financial sector being dependant on and beholden to
these foreign companies.
the system allows money to be pull out instantly and easily.
if that happens , sillypoore will experience what happened to thailand in 1997.

Click to expand...

Well its already a strong possibility but this will depend on Fed's monetary policy (if they continue to pump the economy using zero or negative interest rates).

iluvgst said:

How does tpp benefit the average joe? Probably benefits big corporation and biz cronies more

Click to expand...

clearly he wasted our money in going to Black House for dinner with his entourage............ who the fuck did he think he is??? ...... even his father is a snot, what more him???

"We spent five, six years negotiating the TPP. Finally we got this very elaborate, carefully balanced deal,
several thousand pages of texts. It's not so easy to say....

We feel disappointed that the TPP looks very unlikely or will not be passed now...

Click to expand...

what about the thousands and thousands of sinkies who had worked their whole life....and not able to cash out their
blood and sweat when they reached 55?????

Criticisms from politicians and activists

In 2014, linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky warned that the TPP is "designed to carry forward the neoliberal project to maximise profit and domination, and to set the working people in the world in competition with one another so as to lower wages to increase insecurity."....


Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) argues that trade agreements like the TPP "have ended up devastating working families and enriching large corporations."...

Professor Robert Reich contends that the TPP is a "Trojan horse in a global race to the bottom......

Nobel Memorial Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman has said that "there isn't a compelling case for this deal, from either a global or a national point of view.................................

In February 2016, United Nations' human rights expert Alfred de Zayas argued that the TPP was fundamentally flawed and was based on an outdated model of trade pacts, and that governments should not sign or ratify the TPP.....................

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Partnership#Response

Click to expand...

Would you listen to the argument that foreigners create jobs for locals

Trump has threatened to make the US a 'close economy', and 'a lot of US investments in Singapore will be affected'. Perhaps Trump's rally against free trade, where he promised to withdraw the US from the North American Free Trade Agreement. If only he can make that happen, that will be great. I wonder how many of us Singaporeans really know what these FTAs are, how they actually work and whether they are beneficial to us individually. I find the blind support of FTAs appalling. I wonder how many of us went through our FTA with India and honestly think, "I fucking love this." We are either complete idiots or have absolutely no clue.

It could be the term being used. Free trade. Freedom. Everyone loves that notion. However, the Trans-pacific Partnership (TPP) has nothing to do with 'freedom' or even 'trade'. Most importantly, it has nothing beneficial to the average Beng on the street as it was reserved for those with vested interest who were involved in the secretive negotiations which we can only find out from Wikileaks. If the TPP is really about promoting what its name suggest, they will never be done in that dodgy manner.