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TTIP, CETA only beneficial for banks, corporations: Pundit

Monday, 17 October 2016 6:05 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 17 October 2016 6:06 AM ]

People hold a banner which translates as "Stop Tafta and Ceta! No to the transatlantic free trade agreement" during a demonstration for the protection of agriculture and against the Tafta and Ceta trade agreements on October 15, 2016 in Paris. (AFP photo)

The European Union has been engaged in negotiations with the United States and Canada to conclude trade agreements known as Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), respectively. The proposed agreements have come under a lot of criticism, with voices of opposition to the free trade deals growing louder across the EU every day. For its Sunday's edition of the program 'The Debate,' Press TV has spoken to two experts to examine why these deals have raised so much controversy.

One of the panelists on the show, author and political commentator Dean Henderson said that multinational trade deals between the European Union, the United States and Canada are to provide big corporations and banks with more profits and have nothing good to offer the people.

A succession of trade agreements, he noted, are being “crafted by multinational corporations and investment bankers” who are to boost them at the expense of the public.

TTIP and CETA are not going to help any nation, but instead they are expected to speed up the process of “deindustrialization of America” through outsourcing jobs to countries like China with a low-paid workforce.

He further warned that “trade agreements create a superstructure that takes sovereignty away from nation-states."

According to Henderson, these supernational trade agreements “crafted by corporations in secret” are symbols of "undemocratic behavior" because the US Congress and European parliaments have not been aware of such deals.

Also attending the program, Brent Budowsky, a columnist with The Hill, said that Europe, the United States and Canada should end “secrecy” and tell the truth to the public and the media about what the contents of these agreements really are.

The deals have prompted concerns throughout Europe, with activists and trade unions warning that signing the deals would worsen local standards for food, work, industry and environment. Countries such as Germany, France, Poland and Spain, that have a sizable population of farmers, have seen major demonstrations against the agreements.

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