Drafter

Clerk 03/10/2016

Title

A MOTION calling on the United States Congress to protect American jobs, environmental and labor standards by rejecting the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Body

                     WHEREAS, the King County Strategic Plan has a goal for Economic Growth that encourages a growing and diverse King County economy, which relies on family wage jobs being available to our residents, and

                     WHEREAS, King County supports international trade that promotes and protects family-wage jobs, protects our natural resources, enhances food and pharmaceutical safety and access, grows the American manufacturing sector and does not undermine state and local protections, and

                     WHEREAS, the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership ("TPP") has provisions for investor-state dispute settlement, that allow corporations to sue governments over laws that may adversely affect "expected future profits," which applies to public health measures, environmental regulations, and minimum wage laws.  These cases are decided before private arbitration panels rather than in the courts, and

                     WHEREAS, Doctors without Borders describes the TPP as the "worst-ever trade agreement for access to medicines," locking in policies to allow price gouging and allowing monopoly rights to drug companies, and

                     WHEREAS, studies by the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank created in 1986 to include the needs of low- and medium-income workers in economic policy discussions, found that every state, including Washington, has experienced job losses due to trade deficits with TPP countries in 2015.  The proposed TPP does not regulate currency manipulation that is leading to the high trade deficits.  The Economic Policy Institute has determined that past trade deals similar to the proposed TPP deal have caused the loss of some 700,000 jobs as production moved out of the United States, and

                     WHEREAS, a study by Tufts University found that the TPP would push down median wages in the United States, and

                     WHEREAS, King County is one of the most internationally tied counties in the United States.  Our aerospace, information technology and biotech industries are heavily impacted by international trade, giving the TPP a huge influence over our economy;

                     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:

                     The council opposes approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and urges our

Congressional delegation to protect American jobs, environmental and labor standards by rejecting the proposed trade agreement.