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Free Trade Area of the Americas
Nothing is more vital to a healthy life than clean air and clean water. But right now our air and water are threatened by laws that govern our international trade practices. The Bush administration is about to negotiate new trade rules that could make it even harder to protect the environment. Leaders from North and South America plan to expand the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) throughout the Western Hemisphere.
This Super-NAFTA trade deal, called the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), could have a severe impact on our health and environment at home and throughout the Americas. It could expose more of our health and environmental laws to attack as trade barriers encourage destructive mining and logging in some of our hemisphere's most precious wild areas. Global trade rules have already been used to undermine protections for wildlife, food safety, and the environment.
Five Environmental Reasons to Oppose the FTAA, by the Canadian Alliance on Trade and Environment and the Sierra Club of Canada.
U.S. - Malaysia Free Trade Agreement
This trade agreement, which is still under negotiation, is modeled after agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and accordingly, does not contain provisions to effectively protect the environment and provide a living wage for the majority of Malaysian workers. With respect to the Malaysian economy, this agreement would likely hurt local industries and small-scale agriculture by eliminating the government's capital control mechanisms used to support domestic industries. Patent protections that far surpass even the requirements of the World Trade Organization could raise the cost of life-saving medicine by 70-80% for Malaysians. Moreover, government procurement rules in the proposed FTA could strictly limit efforts by the Malaysian people to reward green and environmentally-sustainable companies by demanding equal treatment for all companies, regardless of their environmental record.
For more information on the economic and social implications of the Malaysia-U.S. FTA on Malaysia, click here.
As of early 2009, Malaysia has suspended the bilateral trade negotiations, possibly in response to U.S. support for Israel's military operations in Gaza. While these negotiations are incomplete, the Congress could at any time commence oversight hearings to move negotiations forward. Accordingly, this is an opportune time for citizens to reach out to their Senators and Representatives to voice their concerns about the proposed Malaysia-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.
Letter to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk: March 24, 2009