May 24, 2016
It is a question that goes unasked in a NYT piece that touted the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as providing the glue for an alliance of the U.S. and East Asian countries against China. While the deal will increase trade between the member countries in some areas, a major thrust of the deal is to increase patent and copyright protections. These increased protections will raise prices in many areas, most importantly prescription drugs.
If the TPP results in some of the poorer countries in the pact paying much higher prices for their drugs (to U.S. drug companies), imposing a large burden on government health care programs or possibly making drugs unaffordable for many citizens, it is not clear that it will make the countries closer allies with the United States. The NYT article does not consider this possibility.
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