June 24: Trade deal predicted to be blow to economies

THE letter (The Yorkshire Post, June 18) about the TTIP trade deal proposal between the EU and US did not mention another dimension that should concern us all: the cost to our jobs and economies.

David Cameron has claimed that the Trans Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership would be “good for Britain – good for growth and British families” but numerous studies suggest the opposite. The official impact assessment commissioned by the European Commission at the start of negotiations predicted the loss of at least one million jobs as a result of a successful US-EU deal, with over one third of these occurring within the EU. The Commission chose not to publish these findings.

A more recent study at Tufts University in the US confirmed the expected loss of more than 600,000 jobs in the EU as a direct result of TTIP. It also predicted a significant reduction in labour income in northern European countries including the UK and net losses for European exports and GDP as well as a fall in government revenues.

Studies suggest that previous trade deals like NAFTA have created unemployment and loss of income in the US. I encourage readers to inform themselves about TTIP’s threat to our economy.