[CTC] UK FTA: Trade deals conducted in secret will be hijacked by corporate interests

[Arthur Stamoulis]

https://www.ft.com/content/faf1e836-7090-11e7-93ff-99f383b09ff9 <https://www.ft.com/content/faf1e836-7090-11e7-93ff-99f383b09ff9>

Trade deals conducted in secret will be hijacked by corporate interests

Sir, British and US officials began discussing plans for a future US-UK trade deal this week, without bothering to consult the population of either country on the goals for such talks. As representatives of civil society movements on both sides of the Atlantic, we reject secretive trade talks that keep elected representatives and the public in the dark. UK and US officials have no business trying to precook a post-Brexit trade deal years before such negotiations would be legal. 

It has become abundantly clear that trade deals crafted in secret will be hijacked by corporations to promote their narrow interests at the expense of public welfare. That was the lesson of the recent transatlantic and trans-Pacific trade agreements (TTIP and TPP) — both of which have been stopped thus far by movements of millions that spanned borders and sectors. Indeed, corporate lobbies are already seizing on the coming US-UK talks to push an agenda of financial deregulation, privatisation of public services, the undermining of workers’ rights and expansion of unaccountable trade tribunals that allow corporate polluters to sue governments over environmental and health protections they don’t like. 

To prioritise the needs of people — not corporate profits — in both of our countries, any potential US-UK trade talks must be led by public input and take place in the light of day. 

Paul Keenlyside 
Co-ordinator, Trade Justice Movement 

 Dave Prentis 
 General Secretary, UNISON 

 Len McCluskey 
 General Secretary, Unite 

 Kevin Courtney 
 General Secretary, NUT 

 Tim Roache 
 General Secretary, GMB 

 Asad Rehman 
 Executive Director, War on Want 

 Jean Blaylock 
 Policy Manager, Global Justice Now 

 Dave Timms 
 Senior Political Campaigner, Friends of the Earth 

 Arthur Stamoulis 
 Executive Director, Citizens Trade Campaign 

 Mark Levinson 
 Chief Economist, Service Employees International Union 

 Susan Grant 
 Director of Consumer Protection and Privacy, Consumer Federation of America 

 Melinda St Louis 
 International Campaigns Director, Global Trade Watch, Public Citizen 

 Ben Beachy 
 Director, Trade Program, Sierra Club 

 Lisa Griffith 
 Interim Executive Director, National Family Farm Coalition 

 Juliette Majot 
 Executive Director, Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy 

 Jake Schmidt 
 Director, International Program, Natural Resources Defense Council  


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