Replace NAFTA
with a deal that puts people and the planet first!
Presentation by Rose Espinola
National Field Director at Global Trade Watch
What We’ll Be Covering
We defeated the TPP.
Now we have an opportunity to Replace NAFTA.
Can we really win a better deal?
These are two cabinet members involved in negotiations...
Wilbur Ross
U.S. Commerce Secretary
Robert Lighthizer
U.S. Trade Representative
What does “90 day notice” mean?
It means now is the time to organize.
Our bright red line:
No ISDS.
What is Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS)?
The key provision in NAFTA grants rights to thousands of multinational corporations to sue the U.S. government before a tribunal of three corporate lawyers.
These lawyers can award corporations unlimited sums to be paid by U.S. taxpayers, including for the loss of expected future profits.
These multinational corporations need only convince the lawyers that a U.S. law or safety regulation violates their NAFTA rights.
Their decisions are not subject to appeal and the amount awarded has no limit.
When an agreement is ready to be signed,
the Trump administration will give a
second 90 day notice
of “intent to sign” the agreement.
Questions?
NAFTA Effects by the Numbers
Number of U.S. jobs that have been certified as lost to NAFTA just under one narrow government program — a program which NAFTA proponents admit only covers perhaps 10 percent of the U.S. jobs that were lost.
A. 91,000
B. 910,000
C. 9,100,000
Write your response in the chat box.
NAFTA Effects by the Numbers
Amount of money (dollars) that TransCanada Corporation demanded in compensation from U.S. taxpayers, under NAFTA, after the historic victory by indigenous people and environmentalists to stop construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The case was only withdrawn after Donald Trump allowed the pipeline to go forward.
A. $15 million
B. $3 billion
C. $15 billion Write your response in the chat box.
NAFTA Effects by the Numbers
Number of Mexicans engaged in farming and related work who lost their livelihoods, from 1991 to 2007, when they were unable to compete with U.S. subsidized corn flooding into the country. To be a part of NAFTA, Mexico had changed its Constitution, undoing provisions that guaranteed small plots (“ejidos”) to millions of Mexicans living in rural villages
A. 100,000
B. 1 million
C. 2 million Write your response in the chat box.
NAFTA Effects by the Numbers
Write your response in the chat box.
NAFTA Effects by the Numbers
Write your response in the chat box.
NAFTA Effects by the Numbers
Our People-Centered
Vision to Replace NAFTA
Is this a characteristic of current NAFTA
or our people-centered vision?
Defends jobs and human rights with strong, enforceable labor and environmental standards in the agreement’s core text and requires that they are enforced
In the chat box, write “current” or “vision.”
Is this a characteristic of current NAFTA
or our people-centered vision?
No intellectual property rules that drive up the cost of medicines; instead public health protections that enable the United States and other countries to promote the human right to health and ensure access to medicine for all
In the chat box, write “current” or “vision.”
Is this a characteristic of current NAFTA
or our people-centered vision?
Allows countries to lower the value of their currencies to gain trade advantages
In the chat box, write “current” or “vision.”
Is this a characteristic of current NAFTA
or our people-centered vision?
All service providers — domestic and foreign — must equally comply with a country’s environmental, land use, safety, privacy, transparency, professional qualification and consumer access policies
In the chat box, write “current” or “vision.”
Is this a characteristic of current NAFTA
or our people-centered vision?
Closed-door process
In the chat box, write “current” or “vision.”
Is this a characteristic of current NAFTA
or our people-centered vision?
Broad and meaningful protection for environmental, health, labor and other public interest policies, so that they cannot be challenged in trade tribunals
In the chat box, write “current” or “vision.”
Our People-Centered Vision to Replace NAFTA
Write your response in the chat box.
Our People-Centered Vision to Replace NAFTA
How can you get involved?
2. Write a Letter to the Editor (LTE)
3. Present and table at NAFTA at local meetings
4. Meet with your Member of Congress
Next Steps
Report back on LTEs, presentations, tabling, and meetings - Email contact@replacenafta.org
Follow Us Online
@ReplaceNAFTA - Facebook & Twitter
@TrumpedUpTrade - Facebook & Twitter