Trade Justice News: Sun, 2/26: Webinar: The Price of NAFTA + More Events, Video, Action Report, & More! - Please share w/ Global Justice for Animals and the Environment Supporters!
Sunday, 2/26: Webinar: The Price of NAFTA
With the Trump administration's stated intention to renegotiate or pull out of NAFTA, it's critical that trade justice activists understand the impacts of this most infamous of trade agreements in order to understand what would need to be fixed for a NAFTA alternative to be just and sustainable. On this webinar, experts and organizers from Canada, Mexico, and the United States will discuss the harm that NAFTA has done to jobs and wages, the environment, and human rights. Featuring Celeste Drake (AFL-CIO), Sujata Dey (Council of Canadians), Pete Dolack (Systemic Disorder), Manuel Perez Rocha (Institute for Policy Studies), Adam Weissman (Global Justice for Animals and the Environment), and Margaret Flowers (Trade for People and Planet).
Other Upcoming National Events on Trade Issues (not organized by Trade Justice Alliance)
Wednesday, 2/22: Trade for People and Planet National People's Agenda Call
Continue the national discussion for an activist campaign to stop the Trade in Services Agreement, which preserves many of the worst aspects of TPP and covers and even wider range of countries.
Events on Trade and Investment Policy in NYC (not organized by Trade Justice Alliance)
Monday, 2/27: Developments in International Investment Agreements
Prompted by a growing number of investor-state disputes as well as concerns about limitations on policy space, a number of countries are reconsidering whether the costs of IIAs may outweigh their benefits. This discussion, hosted by the Republic of Indonesia in collaboration with the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, will convene government officials, policy makers, civil society and academics to further probe these issues and help to advance the policy debate about the future of IIAs. Presenters will include Manuel Perez-Rocha (Institute for Policy Studies), Todd Tucker (Roosevelt Institute), Abdul Kadir Jailani (Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia in NY), Lise Johnson (Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment), and others. Organized by Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment.
Thursday, 3/9: The Trump Administration: What's in Store for Animals? (includes talk on animal ag and trade policy)
Trade Justice Alliance's Adam Weissman will speak on this event on behalf of Global Justice for Animals and the Environment, looking at what corporate factory farm interests want from NAFTA renegotiation and US-Japan and US-UK free trade agreements. Also presenting: Valerie Baron (Natural Resources Defense Council) and Paul Shapiro (Humane Society of the United States). Organized by Catskill Animal Sanctuary.
What Will The Trump Administration Mean for Trade Justice? Video and Supplemental Resources from Our January Webinar
Video - featuring Ben Beachy (Sierra Club Responsible Trade Program), Steve Suppan (Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy), Michael Stumo (Coalition for A Prosperous America), and Margaret Flowers (Trade for People and Planet)
Disrupt J20: Demanding Trade Justice at Trump's Inauguration
On Friday, January 20th, activists from Trade for People and Planet and TradeJustice New York Metro united as the Trade Justice Bloc of the Disrupt J20 action at President Trump's inauguration. The Trade Justice Bloc was one of many issue themed groups that protested or blockaded at the checkpoints that would-be attendees were required to enter en route to the inauguration. Protesters with large banners and signs leafleted, and spoke out, and later marched to Union Square, where they converged with a larger anti-Trump march and rally. A number of media outlets covered the Trade Justice Bloc action and it was also widely shared in photos and videos on Facebook and Twitter.
To view photos, watch videos, and read the action press release and media coverage, click here.
US Withdraws from TPP - Read the Official Notice and Our Statement
On Monday, January 23rd, President Trump signed an executive order that required the acting US Trade Rep to officially inform TPP member nations that the US is pulling out of the agreement. By signing this order, Trump fulfilled a major campaign promise and put the final nail in the coffin of a trade deal that had already been killed by years of campaigning by grassroots activists. Along with issuing the TPP executive order, Trump recommitted to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. Unfortunately, in following days, Trump signed executive orders and announced policies reflecting many of his most harmful campaign promises -- policies with terrible implications for immigrants, indigenous communities, and the environment. Trade Justice Alliance responded with a statement calling for just and sustainable trade policies and rejecting racism, xenophobia, and attacks on the environment.
You can read Trade Justice Alliance's statement here.
Read the United States' formal notice of withdrawal from TPP here.
E-Petition: Demand a Real NAFTA Renegotiation
As a candidate, Donald Trump said he would withdraw from NAFTA if he could not make it “a lot better.” The corporate lobby will be trying to revive the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) through NAFTA renegotiations. We have to drown them out. Add your name to Public Citizen's petition demanding that NAFTA is replaced by a deal that puts people and the planet first.
New Websites and Social Media Pages from Public Citizen
Our friends at Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch have launched two new websites and related Twitter and Facebook pages for trade activism in the Trump era:
Video: Global Trade Watchdog Lori Wallach on Tavis Smiley
The Director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch discussed the future of global trade under the Trump administration on Tavis Smiley on February 8, 2017. Watch the video.
