Public Citizen's Statement
Letter from Lori Wallach on Trade Act
Dear Friends,
The Trade Reform Accountability Development and Employment (TRADE) Act, - cosponsored by fair trade champions Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Maine) was just introduced with 60 diverse House and Senate original cosponsors! House cosponsors include five committee chairs and 16 subcommittee chairs - numerous members of the Blue Dog, Progressive, Black and Hispanic Caucuses - representing states from California to Maine, from Texas to Michigan.
This is a very exciting initiative: after years of fighting against expansion of the failed NAFTA/WTO model, finally here is a new trade bill we can all be FOR. Numerous labor, environmental, consumer, family farm and faith groups have endorsed this fair way forward to a new American trade and globalization policy.
This landmark legislation sets forth in concrete, detailed terms a progressive vision for good trade agreements in the future and criteria to help implement this year's campaign pledges to renegotiate existing failed pacts like NAFTA. It requires a review of existing trade pacts and submission of a plan by the president to fix these agreements - before new trade negotiations or congressional consideration of pending pacts. The TRADE Act also describes the key elements of a new trade negotiating and approval mechanism to replace Fast Track that would enhance Congress' role and ensure pacts meet the criteria described in the bill.
The prominence of the trade issue in the presidential primary race has created new political demand for real change. This widespread public demand for change (now polls show even a majority of GOP voters think our trade status quo is a damaging failure) and the prospect of a future Democratic President and increasingly Democratic Congress provide a unique opportunity. Now is the time to frame the future discussion in a way that reflects the expectations of the majority of the Democratic congressional caucus and Democratic base. The TRADE Act serves this important purpose - with broadly-supported, concrete proposals for the essential reforms needed to build beyond past improvements in trade pact labor and environmental standards.
The comprehensive trade reform agenda described in the TRADE Act is essential to ensuring that future agreements do not undermine our core goals and values - good jobs and economic justice; a healthy environment; access to quality, affordable medicines and essential services like health care and education; sustainable development in poor countries and the ability of those of us who will live with the results to make the decisions affecting our lives. And, if future pacts follow the structure described in the TRADE Act, trade agreements could create positive incentives for corporations seeking the benefits of trade pacts to improve their conduct here and abroad - finally making trade a win-win.
It's clear we cannot continue along the same path: since 1975, when Fast Track was first enacted, the U.S. trade balance has shifted from a slight surplus to an unsustainable $709 billion deficit in 2007. A net 4.7 million manufacturing jobs have been lost, and while American worker productivity has doubled, American median wages are only 1 percent above 1970s levels. Since NAFTA and the WTO went into effect, an array of domestic public interest laws have been successfully attacked while imports of unsafe food and products have surged. Poverty, hunger and desperation-driven migration have increased in poor countries.
We are for trade -- under fair rules which are enumerated in the TRADE Act. The special interests who pushed our current trade pacts have long claimed that opponents of NAFTA and WTO were anti-trade, which was never true. The special interests' NAFTA-style corporate managed trade deals have no future. The TRADE Act provides a blueprint for rebuilding an American consensus in favor of trade. Now, the dwindling ranks of NAFTA-WTO boosters will have to decide if they will join us in support of trade expansion and the TRADE Act.
Introduction of this bill is one very important step to turning around decades of failed trade and globalization policy. An enormous amount of additional work remains to be done now so that we can seize what are truly unique opportunities in the coming years to create real change!
