The USA, Japan and 10 Pacific region countries announced on 5 October 2015 that they agreed on the most important trade agreement ever signed over the past 20 years. 12 countries representing 20 percent of the world economy signed the world's most comprehensive trade agreement in Atlanta after the last negotiations which have been undergoing for 6 years. With the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), it is envisaged not only to remove trade barriers but also to determine common rules in areas such as labour market, environment and e-trade.

TPP has been concluded between Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, USA, Vietnam, Chili, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore and New Zealand. When looking at geographic repartition of the countries involved in this partnership, it can be understood that TPP is not only a trade agreement but it also a geopolitical initiative. As a matter of fact, the comments made by the President of the United States Barack Obama were striking; he stressed that while 95 percent of potential customers were living out of US borders, they would not allow countries like China to determine the rules of international economy. If TPP is ratified by the Senate next year, it will be one of the most important achievements of the Obama Presidency.  TPP will constitute an opportunity for the US to regulate the 21^st century’s global trade in many areas ranging from cross-border data flow to the competition of state-owned enterprises in the international arena.

Whiloe the White House asserted that TPP does not only support the American economy and employment, it also added that it actually also represents the values of the United States. It is the first time that an agreement which includes sanctions provisions regarding the rights of workers and the protection of environment has been signed. According to the American government,  TPP means:

Regarding workers’ rights;

• Prohibition of child labour and compulsory work;

• Minimum wage;

• Prohibition of discrimination at workplace;

• Right to establish unions and collective bargaining;

• Security standards at workplace;

• Commercial sanctions in case of infringement of workers’ rights

In the field of environment:

• Fight against illegal wildlife smuggling;

• Fight against overfishing;

• Protection of oceans;

• Prevention of illegal wood trade,

• Imposition of trade sanctions in case of violation of environmental protection rules.

Other fields:

• Protection of free and open internet;

• Protection of consumers from counterfeiting;

• Imposition of measures to ensure transparency and to fight against corruption;

• Simplification of export rules for small businesses.

Despite this positive picture depicted on TPP by the White House, the agreement is subject to several criticisms stemming from many individuals, NGOs and even from many countries. For instance, whilst the negotiation phase of the agreement is still ongoing, China announced that it will follow the negotiation process closely and will take initiatives to establish a competing trade agreement. It is known that Russian President Vladimir Putin also made harsh statements regarding the agreement.

On the other hand, countries involved in TPP are also making harsh and critical statements in regard to the agreement. For instance, the leader of New Democratic Party in Canada, Tom Mulcair, stated that if he wins the 19 October elections, he will withdraw his country from TPP.

Although the text of the agreement has not yet been revealed in its full version, renown academicians like Nobel Prize awarded economist Joseph Stiglitz who based on the documents published by Wikileaks, stated that increasing intellectual property rights will cause the establishment of high protection walls, mainly in the fields such as biotechnology and pharmaceuticals and hinder industry and innovation in the relevant areas.

Today TPP, tomorrow TTIP and afterwards

Following the completion of TPP which is one of the two main headings in the foreign trade policy of the Obama period, the attention will turn to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). As it is known, the EU and the US together constitute 30 percent of world trade in goods and 40 percent in services. Turkey is following the negotiations closely and trying to take part in the process. Turkey does not want to be left out of this process because this agreement will shape world trade. By taking part in this process, Turkey wants also to avoid the negative impact of the potential agreement due to the established Customs Union between Turkey and the EU.

Within this framework, the High Degree Committee meetings with the US are being organised since 2013 whilst the updating process of the EU-Turkey Customs Union has also been initiated. There is no doubt that we will have further information about the context of TTIP when the text of TTP is published. On the other hand, it would be beneficial that the ratification process of TPP is followed closely by the signatory countries notably by the US and that critics which are made during this process are noted. Probably the US and the EU will follow a similar path in order to proceed faster during the TTIP process.