The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is being criticized by many for its lack of transparency. American public and trade unions have been seeking complete documents of the deal to be made public. The TPP is an in-progress trade pact the US is negotiating with 11 other nations, which together account for nearly 40 per cent of global GDP.

Recently, Julian Assange of Wikileaks said that TPP’s transparency clock has run out, and his whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, which has published leaked chapters of the trade deal before, is crowd-sourcing a $100,000 reward for copies of the agreement’s full text. It has already managed $59,337 pledged by 1,087 people since the start of the campaign last Tuesday.

The US Senate passed Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) last month, giving the president authority to propose trade agreements to Congress for a yes or no vote but no amendments, and paving the way forward for TPP and other trade deals. If approved by the House, the TPP text has to be made available for 60 days before the president signs it and for more months before Congress votes on it. By that timeline, TPP could be settled and signed by December.

Ustr.gov