Debunking Ten Common Defenses of Controversial Investor-State Corporate Privileges
By Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch
Amid growing controversy over the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) system, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has declared that critiques of the system amount to mere “myths.” Yet, in attempt to counter the critiques, USTR’s ISDS defenses rely on false and misleading statements. Below we respond to 10 common defenses of ISDS from USTR. USTR’s claims attempt to paper over 10 stark realities of the investor-state system that it seeks to expand via the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA).