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Today's trade rules favor multinational corporations, and are not designed to protect workers, the environment or consumers. There is a clear need for change. We need to adopt trade policies that support, rather than undermine, environmental and labor standards. We must move away from unchecked trade liberalization and towards policies encouraging progress in developed and developing countries alike. Trade must allow for the evolution to green economies, protection of natural resources, and increased workers' rights. With a new President and new Trade Representative, the United States should lead the international community in constructing and implementing a new model - one that fulfills trade's potential for truly sustainable development.
On June 24 2009, Representative Michaud (D-ME) reintroduced the Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment (TRADE) Act (H.R. 3012). The bill now has gained widespread support and has 114 cosponsors in the House of Representatives.
The TRADE Act maps out comprehensive reform for U.S. trade agreements. It requires a review of existing trade agreements, including NAFTA, the WTO and other major agreements, and sets forth what must and must not be included in future trade pacts. The TRADE Act requires that future trade agreements contain increased environmental, labor, product safety, and agricultural standards, and curtails the rights of foreign investors to sue governments. Existing trade agreements must then be renegotiated based on the review and comply with the same standards required in future trade agreements. What's more, the act restores Congressional oversight to the negotiation of trade agreements, replacing the undemocratic fast-track negotiating process.
For more information, see:
·The Sierra Club's letter of support for the TRADE Act
·Rep. Michaud's press release for the TRADE ACT
·The full text of the TRADE Act
Learn more about trade reform by checking out the Sierra Club's factsheet Free Trade: Out with the Old, In with the New.