[CTC] Activists Deliver 10, 000 Petition Signatures Demanding Transparency Amid Ongoing Asia-Pacific Trade Talks

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Please retweet photos here <https://twitter.com/TradeJusticeEd/status/1685971264706314241?s=20>

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https://tradejusticeedfund.org/us-and-eu-trade-negotiators-urged-to-end-trade-attacks-on-clean-energy-policies-2/ <https://tradejusticeedfund.org/us-and-eu-trade-negotiators-urged-to-end-trade-attacks-on-clean-energy-policies-2/> 

For Immediate Release
Sunday, July 30, 2024

Contact:  Hillary Haden, (712) 540-3297 or hillary at tradejusticeedfund.org <mailto:hillary at tradejusticeedfund.org> 

Seattle Demands, 'No Rigged Trade Deals for Big Tech!' 
Activists Deliver 10,000 Petition Signatures Demanding Transparency Amid Ongoing Asia-Pacific Trade Talks 
At Seattle APEC Meeting, Activists Demand "Big Tech and Other Corporate Interests Should Not Dictate Rules for the Global Economy Behind Closed Doors" 

Seattle, Wash. — Hundreds of labor, human rights and other activists marched to the Seattle Convention Center on Sunday to deliver over 10,000 petition signatures calling for increased transparency in the ongoing Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) trade negotiations.  The march and rally came as government officials from Washington, D.C. and IPEF countries throughout the Pacific Rim gathered in Seattle for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings discussing trade and other topics.

“It’s unfair that hundreds of lobbyists representing Big Tech and other corporate special interests have privileged access to Indo-Pacific trade texts, while the public is barred from reviewing what’s being proposed in our names,” said Hillary Haden, organizing director for the Trade Justice Education Fund.  “The binding rules established in these talks will govern roughly 40% of the global economy, impacting jobs and wages, consumer privacy, data security, A.I discrimination, anti-trust, climate change and more in Seattle and throughout the world.  These decisions shouldn’t be made behind closed doors.”

Security refused to allow activists to deliver the petition directly to officials at the convention center, or even to act as an intermediary in carrying the petition to officials, but the petition was later delivered electronically.  

The petition called on trade negotiators to ensure that IPEF “utilizes a transparent and accountable negotiating process that includes the release of draft texts for public review.”  It also called for any final deal to exclude “Big Tech-favored ‘digital trade’ rules," such as those enabling consumers' personal information to be shipped, processed and stored overseas regardless of privacy and data security regulations, those helping companies to evade safeguards against A.I. discrimination and other abuses and those that undermine anti-trust and fair competition policies.

“Knowing that policymakers are finally paying attention to the oversized role Big Tech has in our economy and society, the sector is trying to sneak rules into pacts like IPEF that would severely restrict future digital governance policies. Fortunately, more and more people are waking up to this ploy, and are willing to take action to stop it.  We’re not going to allow trade deals to interfere with the regulation of artificial intelligence, personal privacy and business competition,” said Haden.

Signs at the march and rally included slogans such as “No Rigged Trade Deals for Big Tech” and “IPEF: Out of the Shadows!”  Numerous people also carried large, inflatable orcas swarming around a banner depicting a cartoon yacht named “Digital Trade Dreamin’” captained by tech billionaires Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg.   

Other issues raised at the action included whether IPEF will improve labor rights enforcement relative to past trade agreements, and whether it will take steps to prevent existing trade pacts from undermining government action on climate change.  

“If the Indo-Pacific trade deal is going to deliver on the promise of creating a new worker-centered, climate-friendly trade model, it can’t be negotiated through a corporate-dominated, back-room process,” said Haden.

Groups that endorsed the march and rally include the Washington Fair Trade Coalition, Pacific Northwest People Over Profits Coalition, MLK Labor Council, Pierce County Central Labor Council, ILWU Washington Area District Council, ILWU Local 23, Machinists District Lodge 751, Washington State Alliance for Retired Americans and others.

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