[CTC] Statements on today's NAFTA notice (batch 1)

[Arthur Stamoulis]

A number of press statements on today’s NAFTA notice fro the AFL-CIO, USW, Teamsters, UAW, IAM and CWA; Sen. Merkley; Rep. Doggett; Public Citizen; Sierra Club; IATP and CTC...


Workers’ Rights Remain Critical as NAFTA Negotiations Continue  
Joint statement from six labor leaders on the latest North American Free Trade Agreement announcement:
 
NAFTA is a rigged game that has been decimating communities and pushing working people down the income ladder for a quarter century, and today’s announcement is another step in the continuing process of renegotiating NAFTA. Renegotiation is a mammoth undertaking. Meaningful renegotiation will upset the powerful global corporations that have made huge profits off the backs of North America’s working people. Getting it right is not easy, which is why we appreciate U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer’s close consultations and willingness to consider new ideas. However, more work needs to be done.
 
North America’s economies are so integrated that it is hard to see how this new deal could work if our brothers and sisters in Canada are not included. We think it is a mistake to move ahead on a bilateral basis and will continue to push to be sure that Canada is included in any final agreement.
 
We look forward to reviewing a complete text of the agreement and any side deals once the negotiations have been completed. We welcome the improvements made so far to the labor chapter, including, most importantly, new rules to eradicate wage-suppressing protection contracts in Mexico. But these changes will be meaningfulonly if we can be certain that the international labor standards in the agreement are strong and that specific changes to current labor law in Mexico are adopted and enforced. We continue to work with the Trump administration and both parties in Congress to ensure the deal contains swift and certain enforcement tools. We will be relentless in advocating for trade terms that ensure working people in the United States, Mexico and Canada have the freedom to join together in unions and negotiate for better wages and working conditions. This deal is more than just a labor chapter. Effective measures to stop the outsourcing of manufacturing to Mexico in many sectors, like auto, aerospace, service jobs and others, are of paramount importance. We will reserve final judgment on the value of this deal for working families until we can review the full and final text. We will work with the administration and Congress as the process unfolds.
 
 Richard Trumka, President, AFL-CIO
Leo W. Gerard, International President, United Steelworkers (USW)
James P. Hoffa, General President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Gary Jones, President, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America International Union (UAW) 
Robert Martinez Jr., International President, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM)
Christopher Shelton, President, Communications Workers of America (CWA)
 
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Merkley Statement on NAFTA Notification
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after the Trump Administration formally notified Congress of its intent to sign a new NAFTA deal this year:
 
“For more than two decades, American jobs and American workers have suffered because of major imbalances in NAFTA. Our middle class desperately needs a better deal. However, the devil is in the details.
 
“Reportedly, this potential deal does include some positive steps, such as a more level playing field for auto manufacturing and an overdue reining-in of unaccountable corporate tribunals. However, the most essential component to create a level playing field is to have stronger environmental and labor standards, and—critically—for those standards to actually be enforceable. Right now, the reported enforcement deal in this agreement is insufficient. As this framework gets closer to potentially becoming a reality, we need full transparency and a fierce fight to strengthen these provisions that are key to the future of America’s middle class.”
 
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Rep. Doggett on Today’s NAFTA News
 
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), a senior member of the Trade Subcommittee of Ways & Means and the sole Texas Democrat, released the below statement regarding the today’s trade developments:
 
"In typical Trump fashion, amidst ever more insults, the Administration spins a nonagreement into an agreement. Lacking Mexican and Canadian accord, he provides us no specific language, only boasts about what a great deal he has achieved. Though Trump may be satisfied to claim victory by changing NAFTA’s name, many of us are committed to genuine reform to ensure health and safety measures are not undermined by foreign interests and that environmental and labor standard provisions are strengthened. It will take bipartisan support to secure Congressional approval. My goal remains a renewed NAFTA with all three countries that works for consumers, workers, and businesses while protecting our environment.”
 
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https://www.citizen.org/sites/default/files/aug_31_nafta_notice_statement_-_lori_wallach.pdf 

NAFTA Notice: A Final Deal Must Be Judged on Whether It Will Stop NAFTA’s Serious Ongoing Damage

Statement of Lori Wallach, Director, Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch

Note: The Trump administration gave notice to the U.S. Congress on Friday, Aug. 31 of its intent to sign a renegotiated North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Aug. 31 is the last day to give notice for a deal to be signed by outgoing Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. The U.S. reached agreement with Mexico on new terms, but talks with Canada are ongoing. The text of any deal would be made public only after 30 days’ notice. While much attention has been given to whether various deadlines can be met and the political and legal implications of various scenarios, the fundamental question is whether the content of a new agreement can halt NAFTA’s ongoing damage:

“We understand that progress has been made on some essential NAFTA changes we have long sought, like razing NAFTA’s investor tribunals where multinational corporations have grabbed $392 million in compensation from North American taxpayers after attacking environmental and health policies. But swift and certain enforcement of what we understand are improved labor standards is lacking and must still be added or U.S. corporations will keep outsourcing jobs to Mexico to pay workers a pittance, dump toxins and import products back to the U.S. for sale here.

Given the encouraging news about some of the key NAFTA changes we have long sought, we are closely monitoring the ongoing process with respect to improvements in labor enforcement that are necessary to counter NAFTA job outsourcing. We also closely monitoring the ongoing negotiations with Canada where several important consumer protection issues are at stake, including extended monopoly rights for pharmaceutical corporation that would increase medicine prices. Ultimately, we must see the final text to know whether our demands have been met.

Any final deal must be judged on whether it will stop NAFTA’s serious ongoing damage, given the pact now helps corporations outsource more jobs to Mexico every week (Almost one million American jobs have been government-certified as lost to NAFTA) and launch new NAFTA investor attacks on health and environmental laws after already $392 million has been grabbed from taxpayers.

As we have made clear since Day One of renegotiations, the only agreement that can achieve broad support must end NAFTA’s job outsourcing incentives and Investor State Dispute Settlements tribunals – where corporations can attack our laws – and add strong environmental and labor terms with swift and certain enforcement to raise wages.

It may seem improbable that this administration could be making changes progressives have long sought, but public anger over outsourcing has made it impossible for business-as-usual trade agreements to get through Congress. The big questions are whether Trump will deliver a final deal strong enough to meet his election promises to return manufacturing jobs and cut the large NAFTA trade deficit and if so, whether Republicans in Congress would buck the corporate lobby and support a deal that would end NAFTA’s job outsourcing incentives and ISDS tribunals where corporations can attack our laws and add strong environmental and labor terms with swift and certain enforcement to raise wages.”

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SIERRA CLUB
Trump Continues To Rush Toxic NAFTA Deal Without Canada

USTR Announces It Will Submit U.S.-Mexico Deal To Congress

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the U.S. Trade Representative announced <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/08/31/after-talks-with-canada-falter-trump-to-advance-preliminary-mexico-trade-deal-on-nafta/?utm_term=.6dced54d5a9a> that it is moving forward without Canada on a proposed U.S.-Mexico trade agreement announced earlier this week <https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2018/08/rushed-secret-nafta-deal-unlikely-deliver-for-north-america-s-communities>. USTR announced that they will notify Congress of Trump’s intent to sign the new deal later this year, and noted that Canada will still be able to join the deal “if it is willing.” The draft deal reportedly includes weak environmental enforcement terms, fails to make any mention of climate change, and even offers special handouts to oil and gas corporations.

Today’s announcement follows reports that Trump said he would not compromise with Canada <https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2018/08/31/bombshell-leak-to-toronto-star-upends-nafta-talks-in-secret-so-insulting-remarks-trump-says-he-isnt-compromising-at-all-with-canada.html> and previously threatened them with tariffs on automobiles <https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-auto-tariffs-canada-what-it-will-cost-you/>. Earlier this week, Mexico made it clear that it wanted Canada included in any trade agreement. It has not indicated whether their position has changed. The full text of the deal will not be available to the public for another 30 days.

In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:

“The only thing Donald Trump has succeeded at is taking a failed trade deal originally crafted by polluters and multinational corporations and updating it with the help of even more polluters and multinational corporations all while alienating America’s closest allies to try and score political points. This rushed, noxious deal is a shameful demonstration of Trump’s desire to favor his own political interests and those of corporate polluters at the expense of the millions of working families and communities in the U.S. and across North America. The U.S.’s trade policy should not be a pawn in Trump’s political game and Congress must fulfill its duties of rejecting any deal not in the people’s interest.”

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See here for a recent joint statement from leading U.S. environmental groups <https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/uploads-wysiwig/NAFTA%20Environmental%20Letter%20May%202018.pdf> on what must be included in any NAFTA replacement deal.

 
Key findings from our report NAFTA 2.0: For People or Polluters? <https://www.sierraclub.org/compass/2018/04/trump-s-trade-deal-gift-climate-polluters?scv=1524692388083>
NAFTA’s Existing Obstacles to Climate Progress

NAFTA allows corporations to evade climate policies by offshoring their production, pollution, and jobs to countries with weaker climate standards. Policymakers across North America regularly cite this climate pollution loophole as a reason not to enact stronger climate policies, for fear that doing so would spell job loss and a mere exporting of emissions.

NAFTA’s “proportionality” rule locks in tar sands oil extraction and fracking in Canada, while giving investors a permanent green light to finance new tar sands oil pipelines to the U.S. If Canada tries to meet its climate goals but remains bound by this NAFTA rule, the country will produce nearly 1,500 metric megatons more climate pollution by 2050 than if it ditched the rule. This cumulative NAFTA climate pollution penalty is twice Canada’s current annual emissions and more than 12 times greater than its 2050 climate pollution target.

NAFTA has facilitated a fivefold increase in U.S. gas exports to Mexico by requiring those exports to be automatically approved. This has fueled increased fracking in the U.S., expansion of cross-border gas pipelines, and a crowding out of solar and wind power in Mexico. Only 1 percent of Mexico’s electricity comes from solar and wind while half now comes from gas, which has contributed more than any other fuel type to Mexico’s increased climate pollution.

NAFTA could prolong the climate damage from the Trump administration’s regulatory rollbacks if NAFTA’s private legal system for corporate polluters remains intact. If “investor-state dispute settlement” (ISDS) remains in NAFTA, it could delay or weaken the re-establishment of U.S. climate policies after the Trump administration leaves.

New Climate Threats in NAFTA 2.0?

NAFTA negotiators have explicitly stated that they intend for NAFTA 2.0 to lock in the recent deregulation of oil and gas in Mexico, which has encouraged increased offshore drilling, fracking, and other fossil fuel extraction. A future Mexican government may want to restrict such activities to reduce climate, air, and water pollution. However, NAFTA 2.0 could bar such changes with a “standstill” rule that requires the current oil and gas deregulation to persist indefinitely, even as the climate crisis worsens and demands for climate action crescendo.

NAFTA 2.0 includes expansive rules concerning “regulatory cooperation” that could require Canada, the U.S., and Mexico to use burdensome and industry-dominated procedures for forming new regulations, which could delay, weaken, or halt new climate policies. These rules also could be used to pressure Canada and Mexico to adopt climate standards weakened by the Trump administration, making it harder to resume climate progress in the post-Trump era.

A Climate-Friendly NAFTA Replacement

To allow governments to take climate action without fearing the offshoring of jobs and pollution, NAFTA’s replacement must require each country to enforce robust climate, labor, and human rights protections, in line with the Paris accord and other international agreements. In contrast, the Trump administration is proposing weak environmental standards for NAFTA 2.0, without even mentioning climate change.

To prevent climate and other public interest policies from being challenged in trade tribunals, NAFTA’s replacement must include a broad “carve-out” that shields such policies from challenge, while eliminating ISDS and other overreaching rules. The Trump administration has proposed an opt-out for ISDS, but negotiators have given no indication that they plan to curtail other overreaching rules or exempt climate and other public interest policies from those rules.

To support a just transition to a clean energy economy, NAFTA’s replacement must allow governments to swiftly phase out fossil fuel exports. The deal must eliminate NAFTA’s proportionality rule and the rule that requires automatic U.S. approval of gas exports. 

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters nationwide. In addition to creating opportunities for people of all ages, levels and locations to have meaningful outdoor experiences, the Sierra Club works to safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and litigation. For more information, visit http://www.sierraclub.org <http://www.sierraclub.org/>.



Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

BULLYING, INSULTS ACHIEVE NOTHING FOR FARMERS IN U.S., CANADA OR MEXICO
A NAFTA agreement without Canada involved is not a completed deal.

MINNEAPOLIS—In response to the announcement that NAFTA negotiations with Canada have been suspended until Wednesday and the Trump administration has sent a notice to Congress of its intention to sign a trade agreement with Mexico, with or without Canada, IATP Senior Attorney Sharon Treat issued the following statement:

"After a week filled with insults directed at Canada, today's announcement that the United States is notifying Congress of its intention to sign a trade deal with Mexico is disheartening. America's farmers deserve better. A NAFTA deal without Canadian participation is not a completed deal. 

"While the USTR has stated it will continue to talk with Canada, those discussions appear to have one primary goal: Unraveling the successful dairy supply management program that has sustained dairy farmers in Canada at a time when overproduction and flawed farm policies in the U.S. have been driving dairy farms out of business. This Canadian program is one attempt to balance supply and demand to help farmers and consumers with little reliance on exports or taxpayer subsidies. It works, in part, because dairy is sheltered from imports by high tariffs. In the U.S., farmers, similarly to steel workers, are hurt by immense, unmanaged overproduction exported to global markets, driving prices down to unsustainable levels. 

"Rather than destroy the Canadian dairy industry, we should be learning from their example and adopting policies that successfully balance supply and demand and lift up our own farmers. That's why family farm groups in the U.S. have spoken on the need to overhaul domestic dairy policy that relies on overproduction to compensate for low prices, rather than attacking Canada's program.  

"Instead, what little information that has been released on the agricultural provisions agreed to with Mexico promises new rules to lock in the spread of agricultural biotechnology, which would favor agribusiness interests over those of family farmers in each of the three countries."

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https://www.citizenstrade.org/ctc/blog/2018/08/31/more-work-needed-on-nafta-for-working-people-and-the-planet/ <https://www.citizenstrade.org/ctc/blog/2018/08/31/more-work-needed-on-nafta-for-working-people-and-the-planet/>

More Work Needed on NAFTA for Working People & the Planet
Statement by Arthur Stamoulis, Executive Director, Citizens Trade Campaign

Washington, D.C. — As the White House notified Congress of its plans to sign a renegotiated version of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the United States’ largest coalition of labor, environmental, family farm, faith and consumer organizations working together to improve trade policy said more work is needed if the pact is to benefit working people and pass Congress with bipartisan support.  

Citizens Trade Campaign’s Executive Director Arthur Stamoulis released the following statement:

"The only way a NAFTA replacement is going to benefit working people — and get through Congress with bipartisan support — is if it removes outsourcing incentives and adds tough, new labor and environmental provisions that are strong and enforceable enough to protect jobs, raise wages, defend human rights and safeguard the environment across our continent.  From the few details we’ve seen thus far, we believe more work is needed to get there. 

"Labor unions that have been briefed on some issues have warned that, while there has been progress in several areas, enforcement mechanisms for the proposal’s labor standards are seriously lacking.  That needs to be addressed if a new deal is going to stop outsourcing and the ongoing race-to-the-bottom in wages.  Environmental groups have similar concerns about the enforceability of environmental terms, as well as reported handouts for oil and gas corporations that could prolong NAFTA’s threats to our air, water and climate.  

"While the various advisory committees have some information, the secretive process that the administration has chosen to employ in the negotiations obviously makes it difficult for the public to know what has and hasn’t been agreed upon thus far in other important areas, including access to medicine, food safety and more.  The administration should release all texts from these negotiations for public review immediately.  People have a right to know what has been proposed in their names, and to weigh in on any issues that are not yet settled. 

"The details of any ultimate deal matter tremendously.  Each day, NAFTA continues to destroy livelihoods, drive down wages and harm the environment in all three countries.  People in the United States, Mexico and Canada deserve a comprehensive NAFTA replacement that provides real relief, and all three governments must commit to achieving that together.”

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Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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