Monday, August 27, 2018

Fake News on NAFTA

NAFTA: More Fake News from Trump. The White House threw together a rushed announcement of a “preliminary” agreement with Mexico on auto industry tariffs and perhaps wages. This was conjured up on short notice to divert attention from Trump’s rising legal woes and the appalled reaction from legislators of both parties to his refusal to keep the White House flag at half-staff to honor Senator John McCain, who passed away on August 25.
What makes the NAFTA announcement fake? First, an agreement to raise slightly the North American content (from 62.5 percent to 75 percent) required to qualify autos for tariff-free import into the U.S. has always been the low-hanging fruit of the deal. It’s all the other provisions—on the environment, on the ability of corporations to sue in special tribunals to block regulations, on farm and energy provisions, and on myriad others, that have and continue to be the sticking points.
Second, there is no revised NAFTA deal on autos without Canada, and it’s not clear that Canada will agree to such a partial deal. Third, there is no such thing as a preliminary agreement—either NAFTA is renegotiated or it isn’t.
This is complex stuff, but not all that complex. Yet most of the press coverage has taken the White House announcement at face value. Have a look at The New York Times.
Not addressed were Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs, or revisions in policies that compromise Mexico’s energy independence, a priority issue for Mexico’s new progressive president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Besides diverting attention from other embarrassing Trump pratfalls, the NAFTA announcement was intended to peel off labor support. It didn’t work. Here is a statement just released from America’s leading industrial union officials:
We are aggressively engaged in pursuing an agreement that works for working people in all three countries, and we are not done yet. There is more work that needs to be done to deliver the needed, real solutions to NAFTA’s deeply ingrained flaws.
Any new deal must raise wages, ensure workers’ rights and freedoms, reduce outsourcing and put the interests of working families first in all three countries. And working people must be able to review the full and final text and have the confidence not only in the terms of the deal, but its implementation, monitoring and enforcement. We remain committed to working with the administration to get NAFTA right. Our members’ jobs depend on it. But, as always, the devil is in the details.
Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO President
Leo Gerard, United Steelworkers (USW) International President
Gary Jones, International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) President
Robert Martinez Jr., International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers International President
Chris Shelton, Communications Workers of America President
Don’t expect a real NAFTA breakthrough any time soon, and don't fall for Fake Trump News. Now, back to the special counsel. That's real. ~ ROBERT KUTTNER
August 27, 2018
Citizens Trade Campaign
ReplaceNAFTA
If you've already signed, you can make an even bigger difference by forwarding this request to others!
Trade negotiators from the U.S. and Mexico announced they’ve come to a basic understanding on how to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) — but labor allies who have seen some of the secret texts are warning that, “There is more work that needs to be done to deliver the needed, real solutions to NAFTA’s deeply ingrained flaws."


And with Canada not yet having signed off on even today's initial framework, the ultimate renegotiation could still go in multiple directions.
SIGN THE PETITION: Help ensure that the only NAFTA replacement that can get through Congress is one that finally puts working people and the planet ahead of corporate profits.

Citizens Trade Campaign and over a thousand of our partner organizations have been very clear on what’s needed in these negotiations if we’re going to protect jobs at home, protect human rights abroad and raise wages and improve environmental conditions across the continent.

Any NAFTA replacement needs to eliminate the harmful Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system that threatens jobs, the environment and public health.  And it needs to add strong, new labor and environmental standards with swift and certain enforcement.

Nothing short of that criteria will prevent corporations from continuing to outsource good-paying jobs in order to take advantage of sweatshop working conditions and lax environmental protections abroad.  We won't accept anything less, and we need our elected officials in Congress to make crystal clear that they won’t accept anything less either.

PLEASE ACT NOW:  Urge Congress to demand that good-paying jobs, human rights and a healthy environment are truly prioritized in the ongoing NAFTA negotiation.

Corporate lobbyists whose clients have benefited from NAFTA’s race-to-the-bottom in wages, working conditions and sustainability would like nothing more than a superficial NAFTA renegotiation that further enshrines special rights for powerful interests while once again leaving working people in the lurch.

Please join us in asking Congress to insist on a comprehensive NAFTA replacement that meets the long-voiced demands of working people in all three countries.

Together, we can make a difference.

Many thanks,
Arthur Stamoulis, Executive Director
CITIZENS TRADE CAMPAIGN

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