Trade

Newsletter: Time For Boldness, Clarity & Assertiveness

November 11, 2016 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org Newsletter Bigotry, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Climate Change, Democracy, Donald Trump, Fair Trade, Hillary Clinton, Immigrant Rights, Labor, Living Wage, oligarchy, Racism, TISA, TPP, Trade, TTIP, War crimes, Wars and Militarism, Women's Rights, Worker's Rights

By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers for Popular Resistance. In this moment, the movement for economic, racial and environmental justice needs be bold, clear and assertive in putting forth an agenda that will serve the economically dispossessed, those under attack by militarized police, immigrants facing detentions and deportations and demonstrate policies that ensure economic security. Where Trump is right, as in detente with Russia, the movement will support him against the neocons and humanitarian war supporters; and we will push him further for an end to war as the primary tool of foreign policy. Both parties are confronting major fissures, leadership challenges and questions about where they go from here. Their confused leadership provides an opportunity for the popular movement to fill the leadership void with policies that put people, planet and peace over profit.

White House Gives Up On Passing The TPP

November 11, 2016 Vicki Needham, www.thehill.com Resist! Human Rights, TPP, Trade, Worker Rights

By Vicki Needham for the Hill. The Obama administration’s won’t pursue passage of its signature Pacific Rim trade deal, dealing a major blow to President Obama’s legacy. Any hope of passing the sweeping 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) quickly faded after Donald Trump’s surprise victory on Tuesday and pronouncements by congressional leaders that the pact would not be considered during the lame-duck session. Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton each opposed the agreement during their campaigns, endangering the already slim chances that Congress would cobble together enough support to pass the historic agreement before the end of Obama's presidency. The long-shot trade agreement faced widespread Democratic opposition on Capitol Hill and the environment for passing the deal only grew more toxic during the presidential campaigns.

Actions To Finish Off The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)!

November 10, 2016 Flush the TPP, www.popularresistance.org Resist! #NoLameDuck, Congress, Obama, TPP, Trade, Trump

By Flush the TPP. We have been fighting the TPP for the past 5 years. The work of activists across the country and in solidarity with activists around the world succeeded in pushing the TPP fight into an election year and making it politically toxic. We were told two years ago that voters didn't care about trade, yet it was the TPP that played a critical role in the Democrat's loss in the elections. Voters supported Trump to protest the Democrat's support for the TPP and failure to address the needs of working people and the poor. Now we are in the battle of the year: President Obama says that he will do all that he can to ratify the TPP before he leaves office. Trump opposes the TPP. Members of Congress who have lost their seats or are retiring are not accountable to voters. We can stop the TPP if we take action now to prevent its ratification in the lame duck session of Congress!

New Report: “Trade In Balance: Reconciling Trade & Climate Policy”

November 10, 2016 Staff, www.bu.edu Educate! Climate Change, Trade

By Staff of The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future - The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future and the Global Economic Governance Initiative (GEGI) are pleased to announce the publication of a new report, “Trade in the Balance: Reconciling Trade and Climate Policy.” The report is the outcome of the Working Group on Trade, Investment, and Climate Policy convened by Boston University’s GEGI and Georgetown University Law Center’s Harrison Institute for Public Law in April 2016, a group of trade policy experts and climate policy experts from China, North America, and Europe.

‘Final Death Blow’ To Pro-Corporate Deal

October 23, 2016 Lauren McCauley, www.commondreams.org Resist! CETA, TPP, Trade, TTIP

By Lauren McCauley for CommonDreams. Dealing what campaigners say is the final "death blow" to the pro-corporate Canada-European Union trade deal, negotiations collapsed on Friday after representatives from the Belgian region of Wallonia refused to agree to a deal that continues ignore democracy in favor of multi-national corporations. Canada's International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland reportedly walked out of talks with the Wallonia delegation, which had ruled to maintain their veto against the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) after the parties reached a stalemate over the controversial Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system. "We made new significant progress, especially on the agriculture issues, but difficulties remain, specifically on the symbolic issue of arbitration, which is politically extremely important," Wallonia president Paul Magnette told the regional parliament. ISDS permits companies to sue governments over perceived loss of profits due to regulations or other laws. Magnette had told reporters Thursday that the delegation had particular concerns over "matters affecting U.S. companies in Canada which will benefit from the system."

Time To Rethink Approach To Trade Agreements

October 16, 2016 Staff, www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-trade Create! Fair Trade, TISA, Trade, TTIP, TTP

By Staff for Politico Morning Trade. Trade agreements have become politically toxic. President Obama has three trade deals he has been pursuing, the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA). They all need to be stopped. The administration has used secrecy as their key tool. Their view is the less people know, the more likely an agreement is to become law. Why? Becuase these agreements are unpopular. They are written by and for transnational corporations and not for the protection of people and the planet. During the 2016 election we have seen how these agreements have become politically toxic. Obama hopes to get the TPP through a lame duck session of Congress, a time when many members of Congress are in their last session because they are retiting or lost re-election. He knows he could not get the TPP through Congress at any other time this year. We need to stop these agreements and then demand a total rethinking of how trade proceeds. We can create trade agreements that serve the economy but also serve the interests of the people in safe good and services, living wages and safe conditions for workers, as well as aid the world in dealing with climate change and protecting the environment.

Business Associations Urge No Lame Duck Vote On TPP

October 9, 2016 Coalition for a Prosperous America and American Sustainable Business Council, Resist! Jobs and Wages, TPP, Trade, Worker's Rights

By Coalition for a Prosperous America and American Sustainable Business Council. Washington ~ The Coalition for a Prosperous American (CPA) and the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC) released a letter to Congressional leadership today urging against holding a vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement after the November elections. ASBC and CPA collectively represent over 250,000 American businesses across the country, including farms and ranches. CPA also includes labor organization members. The letter states in part: American voters’ trust in national leaders has been ebbing. Both major party presidential candidates oppose the TPP. A lame duck session vote on the TPP would further erode citizen’s trust in government. Legislators who have been defeated or are retiring would vote, but are no longer accountable to voters.

Building Alternatives For Food Systems And Trade

August 21, 2016 Karen Hansen-Kuhn, www.iatp.org Create! Agricuture, NAFTA, TPP, Trade

By Karen Hansen-Kuhn for Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy. Public opposition to free trade agreements, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), that serve to increase inequality and concentrate corporate power has reached a loud crescendo. We got to this point through years of effort by thousands of civil society groups around the world, reaching out to educate people on the likely impacts of the very specific rules embedded in those documents, as well as defining alternatives for our economies, environments and food systems. That debate was never simply about trade; it was about decisions on the kinds of economies and societies we choose to accept. NAFTA displaced millions of corn producers and the TPP would threaten the interests of Mexican coffee and dairy producers, as well as requiring adherence to intellectual property rules that lock in corporate control over seeds. Removing those obstacles by defeating the TPP is a necessary first step. Building the alternatives through agroecology will be a vital element of a new approach moving forward.

Obama Puts Congress On Notice: TPP Is Coming

August 14, 2016 Adam Behsudi, www.politico.com Educate! Congress, Obama, TPP, Trade

By Adam Behsudi for Politico. Washington, DC - The White House put Congress on notice Friday morning that it will be sending lawmakers a bill to implement President Barack Obama’s landmark Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement — a move intended to infuse new energy into efforts to ratify the flat-lining trade pact. The move establishes a 30-day minimum before the administration can present the legislation, but the White House is unlikely to do so amid the heated rhetoric of a presidential campaign in which both major party nominees have depicted free trade deals as massive job killers. Friday's notification is the clearest signal yet that the White House is serious about getting Obama’s legacy trade deal — the biggest in U.S. history — passed by the end of the year, as he has vowed to do despite the misgivings of Republican leaders and the outright opposition of a majority of Democrats in Congress.

Hundreds March To Stop The Trans-Pacific Partnership

July 24, 2016 Margaret Flowers, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Clean Energy, Democrats, Fossil Fuels, TPP, Trade

By Margaret Flowers. Philadelphia, PA - Thousands of people marched in the March for a Clean Energy Revolution on the day prior to the Democratic National Convention. Popular Resistance and members of the Flush the TPP campaign created a bold, bright and spirited "Stop the TPP" contingent to raise awareness of the threats posed by the TPP, put the Democrats on notice that the people oppose rigged corporate deals and to recruit more people to join the No Lame Duck Uprising. The TPP is a large international treaty that was negotiated over the past 7 years by the Obama administration. It was negotiated in secret with the help of hundreds of 'corporate advisers' from companies like Walmart, Monsanto, Pfizer, Exxon and more. Members of Congress were largely left out of the process.

Brussels: TTIP Game Over Actions Stop Negotiations

July 14, 2016 Staff, www.flushthetpp.org Resist! European Union (EU), Trade, TTIP

By Flush the TPP. Brussels, Belgium - As the 14th round of TTIP negotiations commenced, fair trade activists began their 'games' to raise awareness of the anti-democratic nature of the agreement and to slow its progress. Early on, there were actions to 'rebrand' the negotiations, a tactic also known as 'brandalism.' On the first day of negotiations, with the help of the animal kingdom, activists found that the negotiations had been moved. Nevertheless, hundreds of activists succeeded in making a lot of noise outside with a casserole demonstration. Some of the negotiators unwittingly carried the TTIP Game Over message inside.

Uruguay Wins Philip Morris Case, But Regulatory Chill Achieved

July 9, 2016 Staff, www.mercopress.com Educate! health, ISDS, Tobacco, Trade

By Mercopress. “The Uruguayan state has emerged victorious and the tobacco company's claims have been roundly rejected,” Uruguayan President Tabare Vasquez said in a televised national address. He was citing a decision by the World Bank's arbitration body, the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, ICSID. The lawsuit at the World Bank investment disputes center marked the first time a tobacco group had taken on a country in an international court. The world’s biggest tobacco company — whose annual revenues of more than US$80bn across 180 countries far exceed Uruguay’s GDP of US$50bn, claimed that a 2009 anti-tobacco law damaged its intellectual property rights and hit sales.

Why So Secret? Take Action To Stop Trans-Pacific Partnership

June 8, 2016 Flush the TPP, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Obama, TPP, Trade, Transparency

By Flush the TPP. Open government groups and others have been calling for the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) to be more transparent about the agreements that it negotiates on behalf of all of us. That seems reasonable, doesn't it? Apparently not. The administration's response to requests for transparency have been to obfuscate. When asked to create a Transparency Officer, the USTR chose its legal counsel, Timothy Reif, the person in charge of defending its secrecy. Members of Congress say that Reif seemed to interpret his new responsibilities as finding ways to avoid being transparent. Last week, in response to a request from last July for Clinton's emails about the TPP negotiations, the State Department suddenly decided that it would not cooperate with the request until after the November election. Hmmmmm....... what are they hiding?

Newsletter: Living In A Post-2011 World

May 7, 2016 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.popularresistance.org Newsletter Bernie Sanders, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Climate Change, Climate Justice, Democracy, Donald Trump, Fight for 15, Hillary Clinton, Pipelines, Student Debt, TPP, Trade

By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers. The 2016 election has deepened the understanding of how out of step the establishment political parties are with the people of the United States. The parties have reinforced the rationale for the Occupy uprising, and the uprisings on racism, inequality, poverty wages, mistreatment of students and more that have occurred since 2011; and they have increased national consensus on the dysfunction and corruption of government, the unfairness and inequity of the economy and the lack of concern for the environment and climate change.Don't Represent US In order to understand the election's relationship to the movement for economic, racial and environmental justice, we need to understand that the roots of this election come from the uprising of 2011. As Paolo Gerbaudo wrote in ROAR Magazine: "The 2011 protest wave will forever be associated with the slogan 'they don’t represent us' — a clear indictment of the present form of representative politics and the existing political class."

90,000 Protest Obama: ‘Free Love, Not Free Trade’

April 24, 2016 Jon Queally, www.commonmdreams.org Resist! European Union (EU), Obama, Trade, TTIP

By Jon Queally for CommonDreams. Hannover, Germany - On the eve of a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Germany on Saturday to voice emphatic opposition to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement (TTIP), a deal they argue benefits global capitalism and corporate elites at the expense of the public good and local democracy. With a 1960′s “Summer of Love” theme informing the march, many participants grooved under banners reading “Freie Liebe – Statt Freihandel” (Free Love – Not Free Trade) as organizers estimated 90,000 people in attendance. With Obama arriving to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday to push for the deal, the expression of dissent in the city of Hannover matches recent reporting explaining how support for the TTIP has fallen on both sides of the Atlantic.

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