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Indybay Feature

AFL-CIO Report “NAFTA at 20” Sums Up Trade Deals’ Impact

by AFL-CIO
(Washington, DC) The AFL-CIO on March 27 issued a report, NAFTA at 20 (see PDF), which summarizes the unfortunate experiences of workers in Mexico, Canada and the United States in the twenty years following passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). With the NAFTA model proving to be the template for additional trade deals in the past two decades and the Obama administration negotiating two massive trade deals, this report is particularly timely.
nafta_at_20_afl-cio_march_2014.pdf_600_.jpg
This report demonstrates that the high hopes of NAFTA proponents have not been realized. Instead, the report argues that, “On the whole, NAFTA-style agreements have proved to be primarily a vehicle to increase corporate profits at the expense of workers, consumers, farmers, communities, the environment and even democracy itself.”

“There is no success story for workers to be found in North America 20 years after NAFTA,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. “The NAFTA model focuses on lifting corporations out of reach of democratic governance, rather than solely reducing tariffs. This report should serve as a cautionary tale to the Obama Administration and Congress as they consider negotiating and implementing new trade deals.”

The report concludes that “the TPP and other forthcoming trade agreements do not have to repeat the mistakes of the past 20 years.” The choice isn’t between the outdated NAFTA model and no new trade. It’s between the corporate-rights model and trade that drives shared prosperity and inclusive growth for people and the planet.

The AFL-CIO has available a wide array of experts to elaborate on NAFTA at 20 as well as to discuss negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) , Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), and Trade Promotion Authority (TPA).


http://www.aflcio.org/Press-Room/Press-Releases/AFL-CIO-Report-NAFTA-at-20-Sums-Up-Trade-Deals-Impact
http://www.aflcio.org/
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