Bhagwati on the U.S. Influence on FTAs
From a recent opinion piece by Jagdish Bhagwati:
The US has been establishing a template for its PTAs that includes several items unrelated to trade. So it is no surprise that the TPP template includes numerous agendas unrelated to trade, such as labor standards and restraints on the use of capital-account controls, many of which preclude China’s accession.
From the outset, the TPP’s supposed openness has been wholly misleading. Towards this end, the TPP was negotiated with the weaker countries like Vietnam, Singapore, and New Zealand, which were easily bamboozled into accepting such conditions. Only then were bigger countries like Japan offered membership on a “take it or leave it” basis.
I would be surprised if any of these countries were "bamboozled." Perhaps "pressured" is a better word. But I am curious as to whether anyone has done a study of FTAs on a country-by-country basis, to see whether each country has its own "template." Which countries are pushing for labor standards, capital account controls, investor protection, IP protection, etc? Taking the three countries mentioned -- Vietnam, Singapore, and New Zealand -- as examples, what do their FTAs with countries other than the U.S. look like, and how does that compare with (what we know about) the TPP?