Background

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

A March 2013 economic assessment by the European Centre for Economic Policy Research estimates that such a comprehensive agreement would result in annual GDP growth of 68-119 billion euros by 2027 and annual GDP growth of 50-95 billion euros in the United States in the same time frame. The 2013 report also estimates that a limited agreement focused only on tariffs would yield annual EU GDP growth of 24 billion euros by 2027 and annual growth of 9 billion euros in the United States.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/04/us-trade-deal-full-frontal-assault-on-democracy

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/11/eu-us-trade-deal-transatlantic-trade-and-investment-partnership-democracy

http://www.jameselles.com/2013/07/transatlantic-trade-and-investment-partnership-the-real-deal/

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139569/thomas-j-bollyky-and-anu-bradford/getting-to-yes-on-transatlantic-trade for full article:

http://www.relooney.fatcow.com/00_New_130.pdf

http://www.ged-shorts.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Study-TTIP_final_ENG.pdf

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/02/transatlantic-free-trade-deal-regulation-by-lawyers-eu-us

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5e39ef26-3709-11e3-b42e-00144feab7de.html#axzz2nNrE1Mci

http://corporateeurope.org/trade/2013/10/brave-new-transatlantic-partnership-social-environmental-consequences-proposed-eu-us

and

http://corporateeurope.org/sites/default/files/attachments/brave_new_transatlantic_partnership.pdf

Position of European Trade Union Confederation:

https://www.etuc.org/documents/etuc-position-transatlantic-trade-and-investment-partnership#.VqsakU_JZdg

http://www.etuc.org/a/11228

http://www.etuc.org/press/trade-unions-express-%E2%80%98grave-concerns%E2%80%99-over-eu-us-trade-agreement#.VNzbKiz_9-w

Greenpeace:

http://www.greenpeace.org/eu-unit/en/News/2013/Transatlantic-Trade-and-Investment-Partnership-TTIP-A-Threat-for-European-Food-Safety-and-Environment-Standards/

Friends of the Earth

http://www.foeeurope.org/sites/default/files/foee_briefing_ttip_oct13.pdf

http://www.foei.org/en/what-we-do/land-grabbing/latest-news/foe-europe-eu-us-trade-talks-on-hold-but-risks-remain

Other opponents:

Some critics claim that the deal will lower standards of consumer protection, the provision of public services, labour protection, intellectual property and environmental protection in the EU and will launch an assault on European sovereignty. In fact, companies would gain a huge influence over governments through the proposed Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism that would allow an investor to sue a government for ‘unfair’ policies against its commercial interests.

http://occupylondon.org.uk/events/european-wide-strategy-and-campaign-meeting-on-the-proposed-eu-us-trade-deal/

http://justinvestment.org/2013/07/transatlantic-trade-agreement-negotiations-threaten-the-environment/

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/04/us-trade-deal-full-frontal-assault-on-democracy

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erich-pica/transatlantic-trade-agree_b_4468877.html

http://europeangreens.eu/brussels2014/content/position-paper-ttip

http://www.etuc.org/a/11228

http://www.etuc.org/press/trade-unions-express-%E2%80%98grave-concerns%E2%80%99-over-eu-us-trade-agreement#.VNzbKiz_9-w

http://ttip2014.eu/documents.html

http://seedfreedom.info/the-threat-from-ttip-and-from-other-free-trade-agreements/

Given the opposition, negotiations may end in a more limited agreement focused only on tariffs, however, with conventional trade barriers between the US and the EU already low, the benefits of such a limited deal would smaller.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership

Presenting the case:

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

http://www.ibtimes.com/tpp-treaty-full-text-wikileaks-releases-trans-pacific-partnership-intellectual-2134814

https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2015/october/summary-trans-pacific-partnership

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/oct/05/tpp-or-not-tpp-whats-the-trans-pacific-partnership-and-should-we-support-it

and first reactions now it is published:

http://www.ictsd.org/bridges-news/biores/news/trans-pacific-partnership-trade-pact-text-published-environment-chapter

Benefits

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentid=2015/02/0049.xml&contentidonly=true

http://www.amchamvietnam.com/30439805/the-big-benefits-of-japans-joining-the-tpp-negotiations/

http://tradebenefitsamerica.org/tpp-every-states-opportunity

http://www.brookings.edu/research/testimony/2012/05/16-us-trade-strategy-meltzer

Drawbacks

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/briefing_note/join/2013/491479/EXPO-INTA_SP%282013%29491479_EN.pdf

http://useconomy.about.com/od/Trade-Agreements/fl/What-Is-the-Trans-Pacific-Partnership.htm

https://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/220-trade/52447-trans-pacific-partnership-agreement-could-hurt-developing-countries.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Partnership#Investor.E2.80.93state_arbitration

Extract:

Investor–state arbitration

According to The Nation's interpretation of leaked documents in 2012, countries would be obliged to conform all their domestic laws and regulations to the TPP's rules, even limiting how governments could spend their tax dollars. As of 2012, US negotiators were pursuing an investor-state dispute settlement mechanism, also known as corporate tribunals, which can be used to attack domestic public interest laws. This mechanism is a common provision in international trade and investment agreements, that grants an investor the right to initiate dispute settlement proceedings against a foreign government in their own right under international law. For example, if an investor invests in country "A", a member of a trade treaty, and country A breaches that treaty, then the investor may sue country A's government for the breach.
Critics of the investment protection regime argue that traditional investment treaty standards are incompatible with environmental law, human rights protection, and public welfare regulation, meaning that TPP will be used to force states to lower standards e.g., environmental and workers protection, or be sued for damages. The Australian government's position against investor state dispute settlement has been argued to support the rule of law and national energy security.

http://tppinfo.org/

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/economic-intelligence/2013/04/19/trans-pacific-partnership-strikes-a-blow-against-growth-and-sustainable-development

http://stoptpp.org/2012/06/18/no-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp-agreement-action-meeting-los-angeles-koreatowns-immigrant-workers-alliance/

latest, May 2015 to January 2016:

TTIP

http://www.bna.com/us-eu-look-n57982065951/

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/what-is-ttip-and-six-reasons-why-the-answer-should-scare-you-9779688.html

http://www.euractiv.com/sections/trade-society/eu-us-conclude-ttip-round-upbeat-318835

http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2015/november/tradoc_153935.pdf

http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/10/24/atlantic-free-trade-talks-advance-with-2016-ttip-deal-eyed/

http://americastradepolicy.com/the-european-elections-and-the-eu-us-trade-pact-is-ttip-in-trouble/#.VkY8v17u1dg

http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21674772-selling-europes-trade-agreement-america-strategic-has-problems-ttip-spear