> the most common criticism of the TPP --- that it's a "secret" deal --- is both inaccurate and not particularly significant.
I disagree. The scope of this deal, particularly the ISDS (which seems to have been amended due to widespread criticism), is incredibly broad. Undermining the basis of justice and democracy in secret negotiations without any feedback from the public is a terrible idea. If it was just about tariffs, sure, go ahead. But if business can get awarded massive damages in private courts because a democratic system decides not to tolerate their harmful practices anymore, well, that's unbelievably harmful to any semblance of justice and democracy. Stuff like that should never be negotiated in secret, but be subject to democratic checks and balances. The status of ISDS is to me still the primary factor in whether this deal will be acceptable or not. And as long as it's an inseparable part of the treaty, the treaty as a whole should fall if this part of it is considered unacceptable.
Businesses can obtain damages from governments, if those governments are found to have enabled trade policy that contravenes the treaty. Businesses cannot go to ISDS for damages from citizens or companies in those countries.
I don't know what one thing you don't like in the TPP has to do with the level of transparency involved in its ratification. If the ISDS process is a grievous flaw, rather than a mechanism that is similar to those used in many/most other trade treaties, surely it won't be ratified.
Either way, you'll soon have the full text of the treaty, months before it comes to a vote.
"Surely"? Only when there's sufficient protest against it.
The reason why the secrecy makes ISDS even worse is that it undermines democratic means of the people to improve their country. They might vote for a good law, but doing so might lead to steep damages paid to the companies whose behaviour made the new law necessary in the first place. It seriously undermines the country's sovereignty, and that's not something that should be bartered away in secret.
I disagree. The scope of this deal, particularly the ISDS (which seems to have been amended due to widespread criticism), is incredibly broad. Undermining the basis of justice and democracy in secret negotiations without any feedback from the public is a terrible idea. If it was just about tariffs, sure, go ahead. But if business can get awarded massive damages in private courts because a democratic system decides not to tolerate their harmful practices anymore, well, that's unbelievably harmful to any semblance of justice and democracy. Stuff like that should never be negotiated in secret, but be subject to democratic checks and balances. The status of ISDS is to me still the primary factor in whether this deal will be acceptable or not. And as long as it's an inseparable part of the treaty, the treaty as a whole should fall if this part of it is considered unacceptable.