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Trade Justice Alliance Newsletter October 2017 Compiled by the Trade Justice Alliance Newsletter team Trade Justice Alliance Webinar Sunday, November 19 / 4:30 Pacific / 7:30 Eastern Time Trumpism and the New Global Economy With William I Robinson, PhD This educational webinar provides a lens through which we can view the crisis of global capitalism in order to inform our understanding of, and activism around, NAFTA, globalization and free trade. To view event page and sign up go here: Recent articles by William I Robinson, PhD: http://greattransition.org/publication/global-capitalism Trade News The month of October is seeing a lot of action in the Washington area during and after the 4th round of NAFTA renegotiation. Corporate lobbyists, members of Congress and heads of state gather in secrecy and with very little citizen participation to hash out the details of what has become one of the thorniest issues of the Trump presidency. Having ridden into office co-opting the popular uprising against the TPP, Trump is talking a possible pullout from the trade deal which he has coined “the worst trade deal in U.S. history*. Numerous stakeholders and civil society organizations are voicing demands to be put on the negotiating table. Chief among them: the elimination of the controversial corporate ISDS provisions, changes in the Rules of Origin in the auto industry, and very importantly, enforceable labor rights and environmental justice issues. Given the mercurial nature of Trump’s demands, what can we expect in the coming months as negotiations continue, and as to the add-ons after the failed fourth round? The neoliberal free traders are applying pressure in attempts to expand corporate rights before an election year forces their congress-critters to backpedal on the new “modernized” NAFTA they envision, designed in the image of the TPP. It looks like, since the fourth round crashed and burned, the future could work somewhat in our favor. Join the fun to find out. NAFTA Talks Unravel as The Trump trade team attempts to push Mexico and Canada to include provisions from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP): http://www.flushthetpp.org/nafta-talks-falter-time-to-increase-pressure/ Native Americans Push for Indigenous Chapter in NAFTA:
http://www.flushthetpp.org/native-americans-push-for-indigenous-chapter-of-nafta/ Lori Wallach, Director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch offers an in-depth analysis on the current state of play between Trump, his corporate trade team and the USTR, Robert Lighthizer: http://prospect.org/article/will-trump-really-give-us-better-nafta IATP’s Senior Attorney, Sharon Treat who attended the 3rd NAFTA round in Ottawa discusses her analysis of the speed and nature of the negotiations so far: Uprooted IATP blog audio: https://www.iatp.org/blog/201710/uprooted-episode-4-update-nafta-talks Just when we thought we’d seen the last of the TPP, some corporate-influenced state actors have different ideas: https://www.iatp.org/blog/201710/nafta-and-challenge-water-justice Business lobbyists jittery under the specter of an uncertain NAFTA: Moving to U.S. trade with China, where our imports have run four times our exports, late in September 2017 U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is vowing to take on bigger issues to create a "major change" in the U.S.-China trade relationship. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/commerce-chief-vows-to-tackle-bigger-china-trade-issues/ The PBS News Hour: “No one is laughing anymore. As Ralph Gomory puts it in the following post: “The events of the past year have clearly shown that many Americans, whether Democrats or Republicans, have finally rebelled against ‘free trade.’” http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/column-americans-right-rethink-free-trade/ Competition between the Trump Administration’s desire to pass tax-reform ASAP and to make progress on reducing the U.S. trade deficit prompted CNBC to publish: White House softens trade stance as tax reform fight approaches “We need the votes there'” Recent article From William I Robinson: http://risingpowersproject.com/the-next-economic-crisis/
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