[2] The rally was held in response to the Malaysian government's signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement in which twelve countries, namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States, Vietnam and including Malaysia concluded the trade negotiations in Atlanta on October 5, 2015.
[3] The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a trade agreement among twelve Pacific Rim countries concerning a variety of matters of economic policy, which was reached on 5 October 2015 after 7 years of negotiations.
[5][6] Concerns have been made such as government procurement, state-owned enterprises, Bumiputera issues and public access to affordable drugs and healthcare, while ensuring necessary incentives for pharmaceutical innovators[7] and rising cost of living.
[10] PSM Secretary General, Sivarajan slammed Lim Guan Eng of DAP on their stands regarding the rally and the upcoming protest on 23 Jan 2016.
PSM has been fighting the pro corporate US free trade agreements since 2006, when Rafidah Aziz negotiated the US Msia FTA.