Poll: Should Malaysia ratify the TPP agreement?

Watch Obama tell the American people how the TPP would help American exporters penetrate countries such as Malaysia. Yes, he actually mention Malaysia and its “30 per cent tax on American auto parts”.

Are our local businesses – and farmers – ready for an influx of American goods and services?

A similar poll over Twitter by Anas Alam Faizli also showed about three quarters of respondents opposing the TPP agreement:

Keputusan Undian sehingga 25 Januari, 7.00 malam: 3,074 mengundi – 5% Sokong TPPA, 78% #BantahTPPA, 17% Tidak Pasti

— Anas Alam Faizli (@aafaizli) January 25, 2016

The following is from a Tuft University paper (authored by Jomo and two others):

In this analysis of the TPP, we find that:

• The TPP would generate net GDP losses in the USA and Japan. For the USA, GDP would be 0.54 per cent lower than it would be without the TPP, ten years after the treaty enters into force. We also project that Japan’s GDP would decrease by 0.12 per cent as a consequence.

• Economic gains would be negligible for other participating countries – less than one per cent over ten years for developed countries, and less than three per cent for developing countries. These projections are similar to the Peterson Institute’s finding that TPP gains would be small for many countries.

• The TPP would lead to employment losses in all countries, totaling 771,000 lost jobs. The USA would be the hardest hit, with a loss of 448,000 jobs. Participating developing economies would also suffer employment losses, as greater competitive pressures force them to limit labour incomes and increase production for export.

• The TPP would lead to higher inequality, with a lower labour share of national income. We expect competitive pressures on labour incomes, combined with employment losses, to push labour shares of national income further down, redistributing income from labour to capital in all countries. In the USA, this would exacerbate a multi-decade downward trend.

• The TPP would lead to losses in GDP and employment in non-TPP countries. In large part, the loss in GDP (-3.77 percent) and employment (879,000) among non-TPP developed countries would be due to losses in Europe, while developing country losses in GDP (-5.24%) and employment (-4.45 million) would reflect possible losses in China and India.