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Trade

We Need Better Answers On Trade, America’s Economy

June 1, 2018 Stan Sorscher, Thestand.org , ,
(May 24, 2018) — In 2016, President Trump prevailed over 17 establishment opponents. He is a disrupter. In particular, he disrupted establishment trade policies that have failed millions of Americans. Too many workers and communities have been left behind. Too much mistrust has grown regarding the way we’ve managed globalization. Wages have fallen far behind the growth trends of previous generations. The neoliberal free-market free-trade trickle-down orthodoxy, which we have followed for decades, is exhausted — socially, politically, and economically. We don’t really understand Trump’s tariffs, or bluster, or impulsive negotiating tactics, but we do understand that we need a change in direction.

Trump Instructs Top Advisors To Consider Re-joining TPP

April 12, 2018 Daniel Cooper, Trade for People and Planet , , ,
Donald Trump has instructed United States Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, and National Economic Advisor, Larry Kudlow, to review re-joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) according to declarations given by Senator Ben Sasse to reporters after leaving a meeting on trade that Trump had with lawmakers and governors from farming states just a few hours ago.

US Trade Deficits, Trump Trade Policies, And Capitalist Globalization

April 2, 2018 Marty Hart-Landsberg, Economic Front. , , ,
Understandably concerned about the consequences of the large and sustained US trade deficit, many workers have grown tired of waiting for so-called market forces to produce balance.  Thus, they cheer Trump administration promises to correct the imbalance through tariffs or reworked trade agreements that will supposedly end unfair foreign trade practices. Unfortunately, this view of trade encourages workers in the United States to see themselves standing with their employers and against workers in other countries who are said to be benefiting from the trade successes of their employers.

More of the Status Quo: US – South Korea Deal

March 30, 2018 Daniel Cooper, Trade for People and Planet. , , ,
We continue to emphasize that Trump’s actions on trade will not bring justice to workers, does not take care of our environment, does not bring us any closer to peaceful and collaborative economic practices with people from all over the world. The people in power are repeatedly showing themselves to be dishonest, putting their own interests before that of the people and maintaining the status quo of the corporate power of Wall Street and major US corporations throughout the world.

Politically Inspired Tariffs Will Not Solve US Economic Problems

March 18, 2018 Daniel Cooper, Trade for People and Planet , ,
In the context of the tariffs on steel and aluminum that the Trump administration announced in the past weeks, a lot has happened. Exemptions were given to Canada and Mexico, the former which is the top importer of steel to the United States. Gary Cohn, Trump’s top economic advisor and one of Wall Street’s favorite free trade advocates, resigned. Paul Ryan and the most ardent free trade advocates in both the corporate and political worlds freaked out at the new measures. Here are some of the main takeaways we have gathered from the slew of coverage and analysis that has come out since the tariffs were announced.

The United States Empire Is Falling. What Does That Mean?

January 16, 2018 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, Clearing the FOG Radio. , , ,
In his latest book, "In the Shadow of the American Century: The rise and decline of US global power," Alfred McCoy writes about the tools used by the United States to maintain global domination and how its status is declining. McCoy predicts that China will replace the US as the dominant global power holder by 2030. We speak with him about US Empire, what the decline will look like and how it will impact people in the US and around the world.

Day 8 Of Countdown To Launch: Daniel Cooper Bermudez

December 3, 2017 Daniel Cooper Bermudez, www.popularresistance.org , ,
By Daniel Cooper Bermudez. Trade for People and Planet is a campaign created by Popular Resistance, an organization that has been fighting for justice since 2013 with roots growing far before then. Popular Resistance is designed to operate from the two-prong strategy: create and resist. This is how Trade forPeople and Planet was born. Years of fighting the Trans-Pacific Partnership resulted in wide swaths of the general population putting pressure on the US government to pull out of the deal. Through Popular Resistance’s “Flush The TPP” campaign, hundreds of people protested through petitions, protests, marches, lobby days, direct action… we did whatever we could to stop the deal. And it worked.

Market Economy: Deep Roots Of Dysfunction

December 2, 2017 Jane Roelofs, www.globaljusticecenter.org , , ,
By Jane Roelofs for the Center for Global Justice. There is nothing new in the disaster anticipated from NAFTA. The market economy hasn't "broken down," or suddenly reached environmental limits. Its inherent faults are simply more clearly manifest in an age of mass communication and heightened consciousness. Here I will focus on the conflict between the market—the backbone of capitalism—and Green values. Many people, even some socialists, believe that both trade and commodification are beneficial. These processes, essential to the creation of a market economy, are considered progressive because they offer both more choice and a larger amount of stuff. While these effects cannot be disputed, their hidden costs in human and environmental terms must be taken into account.

Act Out!: 400+ Reasons To Eat The Rich And More

November 23, 2017 Eleanor Goldfield, www.occupy.com , , ,
By Eleanor Goldfield for Occupy.com. This week on Act Out!, tempting though it may be to ignore all things real and political for the next few days, hiding behind cranberry sauce and turkey legs won't change the ever-widening and gaping abyss before us. Dive in with us as we survey our grotesquely top-heavy economy and where people like you and me stand today. Next up, some headlines from Scotland to Syria to why the oil and gas industries are racist. And finally, NAFTA renegotiations plus an expert take on what's to come and what we can do about it.

NAFTA Renegotiation More Important Now Than Ever

November 22, 2017 Celeste Drake, aflcio.org , , , ,
By Celeste Drake for AFL-CIO - The need to fundamentally improve the labor provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement took on a new urgency over the weekend, as a group of armed civilians, calling themselves the “Tonalapa Community Police,” (Policía Comunitaria de Tonalapa) attacked striking workers, killing two, at the Media Luna mine in Guerrero, Mexico. The murders occurred just five hours south of Mexico City, where representatives from the United States, Canada and Mexico are in the midst of their fifth round of talks about rewriting NAFTA. The aggressors, meanwhile, were released after being briefly detained by an army squadron. The striking workers, who want to be represented by the National Union of Mine, Metal, Steel and Related Workers of the Mexican Republic (Los Mineros) and are demanding the removal of the employer-dominated "labor" federation CTM (Confederación de Trabajadores de México), identified local CTM leaders as among those responsible for the attack. The practice of false unions siding with the employer over workers is a common feature of Mexico’s failed labor relations model. Employer-dominated "labor" federations are antithetical to the idea of democratic worker-led unions whose goal is to help workers build better lives.

TPP Now ‘Comprehensive & Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership’

November 18, 2017 Staff, otherwords.org , , ,
By Staff of Flush The TPP - On November 11th, the TPP-11 countries announced reaching an agreement on reforms that have been negotiated since the United States exited the deal. The most evident one is its new name which is meant to appease world-wide criticism as one of the worst trade deals for the people ever negotiated. They now want to call it the ‘Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership’ or CPTPP. We are well aware of how world leaders are intentionally trying to avoid easy to remember acronyms due to the brand-busting campaigns that have caused the global opposition to corporate trade deals. Re-branding it as a progressive deal cannot hide what remains behind the deal, such as the ISDS. An official announcement declared that “Ministers are pleased to announce that they have agreed on the core elements of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.” This reformed deal eliminated 20 sections of the original TPP text, including provisions related to pharmaceutical products, patent protection, copyright and intellectual property. However, the agreement is still far from progressive and far from being signed as Canada is insisting it will not be pressured into a deal that is not good for Canadians. An analysis of the deal by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) welcomes the suspension of the Intellectual Property provisions, which were amongst the most dangerous of the provisions in the original TPP deal.

Trump Cracks Down On Trade And Travel To Cuba

November 17, 2017 Medea Benjamin, www.popularresistance.org , , , ,
By Medea Benjamin. On Wednesday, November 8, just as President Trump was clinching new business deals with the repressive Communist government of China, the Trump administration announced its new rules rolling back President Obama’s opening with Cuba. The new regulations restricting travel and trade with the Caribbean island will make it once again illegal for Americans to travel to Cuba without a special license from the Treasury Department and will dramatically reduce the number of Americans traveling there. The regulations, which include a list of 180 banned entities, are supposed to punish hotels, stores and other businesses tied to the Cuban military and instead direct economic activity toward businesses controlled by regular Cuban citizens.

The Third Track: Trade That Builds Our Economy Anew

October 24, 2017 Staff, www.iatp.org , , ,
By Staff of IATP - President Trump is playing high stakes poker in the NAFTA talks, with his US Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, at the helm. Laura Dawson, director of the Wilson Centre’s Canada Centre published an op-ed on 11 October in which she suggests there are two tracks to the NAFTA talks – one is moving ahead with the “easy consensus” (i.e. tracking new issues that gained prominence in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations), while the other, driven by Trump’s tweets and America First Agenda, is putting the whole enterprise at risk with incendiary statements and impossible demands. The agenda moving ahead for NAFTA reform seeks regulatory harmonization (to the lowest standard), longer monopolies on technology through tighter patent controls, and an extension of foreign investor rights over domestic legislation. It is an agenda much of the U.S. business community is squarely behind, and Canada’s and Mexico’s business communities, too. That agenda was moving along, its path likely smoothed by the fact that many of the negotiators knew one another from the TPP talks. NAFTA empowers an economics many civil society organizations have resisted for decades, whether trade unions, farm organizations, environmentalists, women’s organizations or church groups.

Protesters Demand End To Corporate Courts, Transparency In NAFTA

October 12, 2017 Daniel Cooper Bermudez, www.tradeforpeopleandplanet.org , , ,
By Daniel Cooper Bermudez for Trade for People and Planet. Arlington, VA - Official negotiators were met by protesters demanding that the deal do away with the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), a system of tribunals through which multi-national corporations have sued governments for millions of dollars for implementing stronger labor and environmental standards, and to implement transparent and participatory practices in the deal’s remaking. Activists stood in front of the Sheraton in Arlington, Virginia – where negotiations are taking place from October 11-15 – with a giant Trump puppet and signs that read “Democracy not Corporatocracy” and “Transparency: Release the Text!”

Left And Right Have Nothing In Common On NAFTA

October 11, 2017 Stephanie Basile, www.popularresistance.org , , , ,
By Stephanie Basile for Popular Resistance. Washington, DC - Today, the fourth round of renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are taking place in Washington, DC. Protests are planned at multiple locations around DC, including a petition delivery of over 360,000 signatures to Congress demanding the elimination of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). United under the threat from continually expanding corporate power, the fight against NAFTA has brought together a cross-section of social movements, including unions, community groups, land reform movements, environmentalists, food safety groups, and internet rights organizations.
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