Major Consumer Organizations Announce TPP Opposition

Consumers Union, the advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, and the Consumer Federation of America, a coalition of 250 U.S. consumer organizations, both announced on Tuesday their opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The organizations sent joint letters to the House and the Senate.

The organizations are opposing TPP in part because of its investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions, which allow corporations to sue governments in "corporate courts" if they pass laws or regulations that impede corporate profitability. These corporate "super courts" have been described as "a parallel legal universe, open only to corporations and largely invisible to everyone else."

The joint letter from the organizations cites concerns that include "provisions, not found in past trade pacts, that allow international food shippers to challenge food safety inspection procedures at the border. Other TPP provisions could enable pharmaceutical companies to challenge Medicare drug listing decisions and Medicaid reimbursements, as well as to constrain future U.S. policy reforms aimed at reducing healthcare costs."

Click here to read the joint letter to the House.

Click here to read the joint letter to the Senate.