Wikileaks reveals one of the most controversial chapters of Obama's big Asia trade deal

From Vox
1. Wikileaks has leaked a chapter related to investment from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a massive TRADE deal the Obama administration is negotiating right now.
2. The chapter deals with investor-state dispute settlement, one of the most controversial aspects of the deal.
3. ISDS is a common part of modern TRADE deals. It allows companies to sue foreign countries whose new policies hurt those companies' interests.

Critics say ISDS could cost taxpayers

Wikileaks on Wednesday released what it claims is a 56-page draft chapter from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is currently being negotiated between the US and 11 other nations. The chapter, dated January 20, includes provisions outlining how companies can challenge foreign countries' laws — a process known as investor-state dispute settlement, or ISDS.

Under ISDS, a foreign investor who thinks a law in a given country is hurting its business can enter arbitration against that country before an international arbitration panel chosen by both parties.

TPP proponents, which include both President Obama and many congressional Republicans, say the dispute settlement mechanism is a way to prevent countries from discriminating against foreign firms. Indeed, the leaked chapter lays out that a country must give foreign investors treatment "no less favorable than that it accords, in like circumstances, to its own investors."

But opponents, including some congressional Democrats, say it gives corporations too much power. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has argued that, among other things, ISDS undermines sovereignty by allowing foreign companies to attack US laws and regulations outside the US court system. Warren also fears ISDS could weaken environmental and labor laws.