Obama was negotiating both, TIPP on the later track. The unions did not feel Obama was protective enough of their interests there was unrest in general, and Trump in the 2016 election positively disowned Obama's effort and the Clintons in turn did disavow it too, Ms Clinton declining to follow the prior administration (something Harris did not do).
Trump criticized Obama and team's negotiations as not tough enough, as he did on the Iran - nuke situation. Trump won.
So TPP and TIPP were scuttled. That's history. Trump tariff war is his current version of negotiating and the courts will have to say what he can do to overcome a feckless Congress, both Houses. Crabgrass gueses judicial finality will be favorable to the imperial presidency, given the fact of a feckless Congress intent on pissing away time with no action.
Recall some ridiculed GATT by calling it Gentlemen Always Talk and Talk. Welcome to Congress.
A latest thing: Forbes, Reuters, and Politico. That sets the table.
Crabgrass has more studying to do but that's the student reading assignment, which Crabgrass sets itself.
Before commenting thinking is best. This post is being started this way because there's little US media attention given to real things and much US media attention given to show.
People in Honk Kong are reading Crabgrass because they've obvious vested interests in the real things. And Crabgrass in a fumbling way at least will try to post something worth reading. The regular media seem to think let the adults do the necessary, we distract public interest to protect the real things.
Something like that. That's all for now because Crabgrass admits the three "latest things" links are given before Crabgrass study of them. Before commenting thinking is best. More to come. All for now.
Again, the caveat, this is one eighty year old American thinking and posting, but there may nonetheless be value to what's published. Again, all for now.
______________UPDATE_____________
CPTPP: Same day, the two May 2025 linked items say the same thing largely, quoting Reuters:
STOCKHOLM, May 13 (Reuters) - Sweden said on Tuesday it would propose that the European Union join a Pacific rim-based trading group with the aim of forming the world's biggest free trade area to help counter the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is a free trade accord sealed in 2018 between 11 countries - Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Britain joined last year and China also hopes to join.,
Two South American nations are members, Brazil, not yet as of May 2025. Canada and Mexico the only North American members. Central American nations, absent, including Panama with the canal. Indian subcontinent absent, other BRICS and Islamic states, absent. Ditto all of Africa.
"If the EU and the CPTPP as trade groups link together it would create the biggest free-trade area in the whole world," Sweden's Minister for Foreign Trade, Benjamin Dousa, told Reuters by phone from Japan."At a time when the U.S. is closing itself off more and more and becoming inward-looking there are good opportunities for Europe to open itself up... to investment and trade," he said.Trump's tariff blitz has upended decades of trade practice, shaken faith in traditional alliances and raised fears of a global recession.Dousa, who is currently on a trade trip to several Asian countries, said Sweden would make its proposal on joining the CPTPP at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Thursday in Brussels.Export-dependent Sweden is one of the strongest supporters of free trade inside the 27-nation EU, though Dousa said he expected some member states to be less keen on a CPTPP deal."We are ready to take up the fight with countries like France," he said. France has traditionally been more protectionist-minded, especially regarding agricultural produce.While negotiations could take some time, Dousa said it might be possible to conduct negotiations sector-by-sector and industry-by-industry, meaning concrete agreements could be in place relatively quickly.
Realatively quickly, or not. Crabgrass has May 2025 as its last date of imformation, and needs to search if there is online updating of info. As of today, Wikipedia entry: CPTPP. (Crabgrass has yet to read it.)
Who in Congress, which committees, and what has been done that way are points for attention. There is a feeling of not being kept in the loop as the American public, one member, but how widespread is the media-led ignorance? Not looking, but guessing, whitehouse.gov not worth checking.
There is the term "being mushroomed" where the public might fit under the term.
Crabgrass search, pending = cptpp new membership eu us russia china
Try it yourselves. Something likely will be returned of value.
FURTHER: The facts of existing trade agreements while Trump holds a tariff war - is it being deliberately downplayed by the Trumpsters, the Democrats, and the US media, or has Crabgrass just been sleeping?
Downplay being one thing, diversionary stuff being something else. "Need to know" seems at play, by the adults. As in "Look at Epstein, yes and no about releasing stuff" and Gaza, oh my! Dead Kirk. LLMs. Elon. While it can be asked, who gets what share of electric automobile manufacturing, have the adults divided the market already, or are free markets at play, ostensibly or in reality? Sneaksrs and clothing? Laptops? All them phones . . .
FURTHER: Same day, Google Analytics tell me I have had one view of the blog from Brunei over the past 24 hrs. That's my first from there. I remember Ollie North and the Sultan of Brunei, back in Iran Contra days, and -- here again. Small but wealthy??
Wha's 'appening?