Creating Fair Trade that sustains life, liberty and justice

The roots of the  corporate coup against democracy run deep and in various directions at the same time, manifesting, on one hand, in US Supreme Court decisions giving human constitutional rights to corporations and the ability by corporations and the ultra-wealthy to spend without limits in our elections.  On another hand, corporate interests, especially multi-national global corporations, press forward via so-called free trade agreements, crafting a new world order outside and superior to the the nation-state.  Recently, President Obama declared that he would not press Congress to approve the Trans Pacific Partnership during the Lame Duck session of Congress.   We now put the TPP in the column of wins for the People. 

But how do we create trade agreements which will work for the 99%?  Work for labor?  Work for the environment?  

At least a few organizations and individuals have been working on these questions. The Sierra Club has released a discussion paper regarding what Fair Trade might look like with regard to climate change and the environment.  And a second paper, New Rules of the Road, is from Lori Wallach with Public Citizen, Director of Global Trade Watch, and Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.  Below these reports, please see the News and Articles section for more.
Jan 27, 2017  Principles of a new U.S. trade policy for North American agriculture  This is a statement on non-corporate farming organizations detailing the objectives of renegotiation of NAFTA.  These organizations co-sponsored this statement: Food & Water Watch, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, National Family Farm Coalition, National Farmers Union,
R-CALF, Rural Coalition  PDF copy
Update 12-28-16.  The AFL-CIO has released a report on how it would re-negotiate NAFTA to serve interests of working people.  Read the executive summary here. Printable copy here.
Popular Resistance wrote these as objectives for a Fair Trade agenda:

We must demand that agreements are used to:
  • Protect workers and guarantee a living wage
  • Protect animals and the environment
  • Enforce climate agreements
  • Encourage a rapid transition to clean renewable energy
  • Guarantee access to necessary health care and pharmaceuticals
  • Raise food safety standards
  • Protect small and medium sized farms and businesses
  • End conditions of poverty and militarization that drive migration
  • Prevent privatization of public goods
  • Protect net neutrality

News and Articles

VIDEOS
April, 2017.   Replacing NAFTA: Eight Essential Changes to an Environmentally Destructive Deal 

Feb 20, 2017  Alternative Model Fact Sheet from the Sierra Club for a climate friendly approach to trade

Jan 13, 2017 Citizens Trade Campaign letter to Pres. Trump

Dec. 2, 2016.  TPP, TTIP, And CETA Are Disasters For The Public: Are There Better Ways To Do Trade Agreements?  Published in TechDirt

Nov. 26, 2016.  TPP is dead.  Time for a Progressive Trade Vision.  Together we can win a more just and sustainable future for all of us, across borders.  By Tobita Chow, writing in The Nation.

Oct 17, 2016.  Here's the Trade Policy That Progressives Should Get Behind; Hint:  It doesn't involve building walls.  By Mike Konezal, writing in The Nation

May 2015.  Principles of Trade; A Model for Global Progress.  By the US Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Jared Bernstein, a former chief economist for Vice President Biden, and Lori Wallach, director for Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, outline a progressive approach that should be taken into account when negotiating future trade deals.