<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><span class="" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">For Immediate Release</span></div><div class=""><div class=""><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p class=""></o:p></div></div><div class=""><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Contact: Arthur Stamoulis, (202) 494-8826 or <a href="mailto:arthur@citizenstrade.org" class="" style="color: blue;">arthur@citizenstrade.org</a> <o:p class=""></o:p></div></div><div class=""><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p class=""> </o:p></div></div><div class=""><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-size: 18pt;">Statement on the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity</span></b><o:p class=""></o:p></div></div><div class=""><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i class=""><span class="" style="font-size: 10.5pt;">by Arthur Stamoulis, Executive Director, Citizens Trade Campaign</span></i><o:p class=""></o:p></div></div><div class=""><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p class=""> </o:p></div></div><div class=""><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Washington, D.C. — In response to a proposal by President Joe Biden at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles today to create a new regional trade initiative called <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/06/08/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-the-americas-partnership-for-economic-prosperity/" class="">the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP),</a> Arthur Stamoulis, the executive director of Citizens Trade Campaign, issued the following statement: <o:p class=""></o:p></div></div><blockquote class="" style="margin-left: 30pt; margin-right: 0in;"><div class=""><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p class=""> </o:p><span class="" style="font-size: 11pt;">"Whether the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity ends up benefiting working people or just raking in more profits for big corporations will be determined by the negotiating objectives that the administration prioritizes, the countries involved and the negotiating process.</span></div></div><div class=""><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></div></div><div class=""><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">"The corporate-centered free trade agreements currently in place throughout the region have been a disaster for working families both at home and abroad. A transparent, participatory process that puts the interests of working people front-and-center could start to correct some of the problems created by earlier pacts. A positive APEP agenda would begin with renegotiating existing deals to build upon the improvements made in the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, including adding strong, easily-enforced labor standards; eliminating Investor-State Dispute Settlement and expansive monopoly power for Big Pharma to raise medicine prices; and inserting binding climate measures.</div><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></div></div><div class=""><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">"Big Tech and other corporate interest groups will undoubtedly be lining up to demand a host of new policies designed to further secure their power and profits at the expense of good-paying jobs, consumer privacy and civil rights. The American electorate, however, has no patience for the type of corporate-driven, backroom trade deals that lobbyists prefer."</div></div></blockquote><div class=""><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">###<o:p class=""></o:p></div></div><div class=""><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p class=""> </o:p></div></div><div class=""><div class="" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i class="">Citizens Trade Campaign is a national coalition of labor, environmental, family farm, faith and consumer organizations working together to improve U.S. trade policy.</i></div></div></div><br class=""><div class="">Arthur Stamoulis<br class="">Citizens Trade Campaign<br class="">(202) 494-8826</div><br class=""><br class=""><div class=""><br class="">
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