The New American
by William F. Jasper
U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Michael Froman (shown) is making the rounds, addressing high-powered commercial, political, and academic circles to build support for the still-secret (and developing) Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive assault on America’s national sovereignty that the Obama administration is attempting to market as a trade pact. There are now 11 nations participating in the TPP negotiations: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam.
The latest negotiation session was hosted September 1-10 in Hanoi by the Communist Party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. A major criticism of the TPP — from critics across the political spectrum — has been the secrecy of the TPP negotiation process, with access to the actual text being denied to the general public, the press, and even members of Congress. (See here, here, and here.)
The Obama administration, however, insists that we can trust the TPP negotiators to produce an agreement that will provide wondrous economic and political benefits for all. On September 18, 2014, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Center for Strategic and International Studies Symposium, Froman told the distinguished audience that “TPP is a central component of America’s rebalance to Asia.” Froman continued:
At a time when there are unresolved territorial and maritime disputes, TPP can reinforce our presence in the region and our interest in establishing methods of cooperation and mechanisms for resolving frictions.
At a time when there are crises on multiple fronts, TPP can demonstrate that the United States is and always will be a Pacific power and be a concrete manifestation of our enduring commitment to the region.
At a time when there is uncertainty about the direction of the global trading system, TPP can play a central role in setting rules of the road for a critical region in flux.
The stakes for setting new rules of the road for the global trading system have never been clearer, and yet it has become increasingly difficult to do just that. One barrier to progress has been the emergence of emerging economies that have been unwilling to date to assume enhanced responsibilities commensurate with their increased role in the global economy.
Utilizing the rhetoric that is boilerplate for all recent trade pacts, Froman insisted that the TPP offers a vision “to support growth and prosperity by unlocking new opportunities for business and workers as well as new benefits for consumers, to tap new sources of domestic demand, to implement reforms in key markets, and to spur productivity.”
In addition to the promises of prosperity alleged to be gained from the yet-unseen pact, there is also the appeal to fear of being left behind — if we fail to seize this “golden” opportunity. “The economic costs of failing to compete are clear,” warned Froman. “But consider also the strategic costs,” he added. “The United States would forfeit its seat at the center of the global economy. It would be left to be shaped by globalization, rather than be in a position to shape it. We’d watch standards deteriorate rather than improve, and that just cannot be in the interest of American workers and American firms.”
“The stakes of our trade policy, economic and strategic,” said Froman, “are even greater in this century than they were during the last.”
The previous day, September 17, Froman gave a similar address to the No Labels Business Leaders Forum in Washington D.C.
Aside from the secrecy that has shrouded the negotiations and the serious sovereignty issues that already have been revealed through leaked documents, Froman’s personal background does little to lend credibility to his TPP claims. As we reported last year, Froman, a Wall Street insider, “was a managing director at Citigroup, and also served as president and chief executive officer of CitiInsurance before joining the Obama administration. No doubt his previous service in Brussels with the Forward Studies Unit of the European Commission also figured in his appointment, though to Americans in the know this entry on his résumé would be recognized as at least cause for concern, if not an outright negative.
Like so many of the privileged politicos who operate in the shadows of power in Washington, D.C. and New York, Michael Froman is a committed globalist who supports the many efforts to undermine American sovereignty and build world government. To that end, he is the Obama point man for not only the TPP, but also for the equally threatening Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which aims for a political and economic merger between the United States and the European Union.
We reported previously regarding Froman:
Although virtually an unknown to the vast majority of Americans, Froman is definitely known in the higher circles of power that determine the economic and political fates of nations. Froman is not only a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the more exclusive Trilateral Commission, but also a member of that super-secret, super-elite annual gathering known as the Bilderberg Group. He is thus qualified to serve as the lead “Sherpa” guiding U.S. policy at the G7, G8, and G20 summits. And Froman’s fellow globalists in the CFR-dominated “mainstream” media could be counted on to ignore, cover up, or minimize his egregious corruption and conflicts of interest in the massive bailout of his employer (Citigroup) — which netted him $7.4 million, including a $2.25 million year-end bonus for 2008. In addition, Froman reportedly played the central role in hiring New York Fed chief Timothy Geithner (CFR, TC) as Obama’s treasury secretary, even while Geithner was engineering the massive taxpayer bailout of Citigroup. And to make matters even more incestuously corrupt, Froman hired Jamie Rubin, the son of Citigroup CEO Robert Rubin (CFR, former Clinton treasury secretary, former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs), as a headhunter for the Obama transition team. Instead of spending time in prison for fraudulent mortgaged-backed “collateralized debt obligations” that enriched Citigroup and helped bring on the economic crisis, Rubin, Geithner, Froman, and company made off like bandits. Remember this when Froman and Obama talk about “transparency” and the supposed benefits of TTIP.
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