THOSE familiar with the literature on international trade will appreciate the symbiotic relationship between trade and geo-politics. Take the case of US-led economic sanctions against Iran and Cuba, for example. They were not imposed for solely economic reasons. On the contrary, it is normal for major powers to use economic sanctions as a tool in making foreign policy. The tool can manifest in the form of trade barriers and restrictions on financial transactions to punish a state for “misbehaving”.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is no exception. World renowned Professor Noam Chomsky of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2015) believes the TPPA is designed to carry forward the non-liberal project to maximise profit and ensure America’s domination of the world. So does Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stieglitz who views the TPPA as a managed-trade agreement of “unequal partnerships with the US dictating the terms”.
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