CCFT Members and Partner Organizations
- Boulder Area Labor Council
- Boulder DSA
- Colorado AFL-CIO
- Colorado Food and Water Watch
- Denver Peace and Justice Committee
- Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center
- Fort Collins Community Action Network
- Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch
Latest
- Make NAFTA better and fairer March 4, 2019
- The revised NAFTA is coming up; so stay vigilant March 4, 2019
- The Revised NAFTA: Fair Trade vs Free Trade – Talking Points for Activists February 24, 2019
Make NAFTA better and fairer
/in NAFTA /by Ken BonettiBarring another government shutdown, we should be hearing about the North American Free Trade Agreement as early as mid-April if and when the renegotiated agreement comes up for a crucial vote in Congress. The United States, Canada and Mexico are parties to NAFTA.
You may recall the original NAFTA was supposed to create hundreds of thousands of new American jobs. Instead NAFTA has destroyed at least a million good jobs and continues in that vein by making it super-easy to move U.S. businesses to Mexico, where hourly wages are many times lower than in the United States. NAFTA-caused job losses have helped force down wages in the rest of the U.S. economy, evaporate the middle class and consign millions to low wages in the precarious, benefit-free “gig” economy.
NAFTA also failed its promise to help family farmers in the United States and Mexico. Instead, American small farmers fared poorly while competing against cheap Mexican produce. More tragically, the livelihoods of most Mexican corn farmers were wiped out by massive U.S. government-subsidized corn imports facilitated by NAFTA that hugely benefited big agribusinesses. Consequently, millions of impoverished Mexican farm workers and their families left their homes to find work in the United States.
President Trump promised to improve on NAFTA’s failed “free trade” legacy. And in some important respects the new deal contains some major improvements. Corporations would no longer be able to sue countries over labor, public health and environmental protections. Shadowy trade tribunals could no longer overrule a country’s laws and courts and win limitless “compensation” from taxpayers. This change would make it considerably more difficult for corporations to export American jobs and subvert democracy.
President Trump listens in August during a phone conversation with Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto on trade in the Oval Office of the White House. (Mandel Ngan / AFP)
Also, a significant proportion of Mexican auto worker wages would have to be raised to $16 an hour, helping to close the U.S.-Mexico wage gap. Countries would no longer be obligated to export natural resources, meaning if we decide to preserve and conserve those resources, like our ancient forests, we can cut exports.
On the negative side, those provisions said to protect workers and the environment are couched in weak language and basically unenforceable. Our government would not be required to employ a minimum number of American workers on public projects paid for by American taxpayers. Border food inspections would be watered down, risking more food-borne diseases. Worst of all, the revised NAFTA grants massive monopoly protections for Big Pharma through extreme patent requirements, threatening to wipe out generic drugs and further raise already outrageous drug prices. This would be a major disaster for public health in all three countries.
Citizens from around the country are organizing to ensure Congress will either force the administration to vastly improve the agreement, keeping the good changes and eliminating bad provisions, or kill the deal outright. Citizens in Colorado, where some 20,000 jobs were eliminated by NAFTA, are forming coalitions to make sure our congressional representatives work for us and not just for Monsanto and Pfizer.
It’s clear the existing NAFTA has to go. It’s an undemocratic corporate-friendly concoction that works for transnational corporations at the expense of American jobs, communities and the environment. The revised NAFTA has potential only if Congress adopts a “fair trade” philosophy, which says everyone, not just giant corporations, should benefit. Congress has the power to either improve or stop a deal that doesn’t work for most of us. We need to tell our federal representatives in no uncertain terms what we expect from them.
Ken Bonetti lives in Boulder.
The revised NAFTA is coming up; so stay vigilant
/in NAFTA /by Ken BonettiThe revised North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will soon come up for a congressional vote to approve or disapprove. The House of Representatives will be the principle battle ground over Trump’s recently renegotiated trade agreement for the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The question is whether our representatives will stand up for the people or go along with Trump on a bad deal.
Remarkably, there are some good points in the new version. Shadowy international tribunals that enable corporations to sue governments and override democracy will be eliminated for the most part. There are new requirements on the Mexican government to raise wages for Mexican workers so that loud sucking sound of American jobs leaving the country for super low Mexican wages will quiet down a bit. Countries will no longer be forced to endlessly export precious natural resources.
But like all things Trump there are serious shortcomings. Worker and environmental protections are spelled out, but with no enforcement. The phrase “climate change” is nowhere to be seen in that document. Food inspections at the border would be watered down risking more outbreaks of noxious food-borne diseases. Worst of all, Big Pharma has been offered a slew of extreme patent protections that would virtually guarantee higher drug prices and fewer generic substitutes. The impact on public health in all three countries would be dire indeed.
Congress has the power to improve the revised NAFTA or kill it outright. Congressional action may happen soon so it will be important for citizens to be vigilant. Tell your representatives you want “fair trade” that benefits people and the environment not corporate-friendly “free trade” that profits large corporations at the expense of everyone else.
Ken Bonetti
Boulder
The Revised NAFTA: Fair Trade vs Free Trade – Talking Points for Activists
/in Fair Trade, NAFTA /by Ken BonettiKen Bonetti, Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, Boulder, CO.
This summary highlights important socio-economic consequences of so-called “free trade” as embodied in the current NAFTA regime, changes included within the recently negotiated and revised NAFTA, and the possibility for a different more equitable set of “fair trade” rules. Trade policies profoundly impact Americans’ quality of life. We hope our federal elected representatives support trade policies that prioritize people, communities and the environment and oppose corporate-biased trade deals that put corporate profits above democratic governance, social welfare and environmental sustainability.
NAFTA’s Legacy: Damage to People, Communities and the Environment
It is important to understand that damage to US, Canadian and Mexican civil society is not a done deal, but an ongoing process. Each week, American jobs are exported to Mexico under NAFTA. For a comprehensive analysis, see Public Citizen’s NAFTA at 25.
Revised NAFTA: What’s Better the Same and Worse?
On May 18, 2017, the Trump administration issued its long anticipated letter informing Congress of its intent renegotiate NAFTA. Official negotiations began August 16, 2017 and were conducted in secret with over 500 “advisors” representing dozens of transnational corporations and investors in attendance. The bulk of civil society was excluded from the negotiations. The revised NAFTA text was released to the public on September 30, 2018. The agreement was signed by the three parties on November 30, 2018. Congress will possibly consider the agreement beginning in mid- to late April once the US International Trade Commission analyzes the agreement and releases their document to Congress.
Congress has the power to mandate substantive changes to the treaty and associated enforcement, particularly those provisions requiring alterations in U.S. law. Theoretically, labor and environmental standards and protections can be mandated through implementation legislation passed by legislatures of the states involved. The US Congress can lead the way. A final up or down no amendments attached vote could occur as early as the first quarter of 2019. Though there are a number of important improvements, serious flaws still remain. The revised NAFTA text is still unacceptable to large swaths of civil society. For an extensive analysis, see Global Trade Watch NAFTA 2.0 Text Analysis.
What Fair Trade for People and the Environment Looks Like: A Short Summary
For a more comprehensive discussion see New Rules of the Road: A Progressive Approach to Globalizationby Lori Wallach and Jared Bernstein.