Washington
Fair Trade
Coalition
The Washington Fair Trade Coalition (WFTC) is a coalition of over 60 Washington labor, faith, environmental, farmer, and social justice groups that are committed to creating a fair, balanced, and sustainable global trading system.
News & Analysis
March 11, 2022 — Global Day of Action for Vaccine Equity
**This article first appeared in the South Seattle Emerald on March 11th** On this Global Day of Action for Vaccine Equity, and for the pandemic to truly end, we need more global access to the COVID-19 vaccine. It is our best chance at ending the COVID-19 pandemic,...
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WFTC Fair and Just Trade Vision Paper
Washington Fair Trade Coalition’s vision paper expresses what good trade policy would look like. The trade justice community is often characterized as saying no to trade agreements. The Coalition wanted to produce a set of positive principles for trade advocacy on...
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Over 400 labor and civil society organizations outlined shared priorities for the pending Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) trade agreement in a joint letter sent to President Biden. ![]()
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The letter comes shortly before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is expected to introduce U.S. proposals for IPEF’s labor, environment and digital trade chapters during a key negotiating round being held later this month in Bali, Indonesia.![]()
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Together, organizations expressed interest in working with the administration "so that any final deal corrects the errors of past trade pacts and becomes a useful model for future agreements that deliver real benefits to people and the planet." They offered the following joint recommendations:![]()
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* On Labor: "To advance your administration’s promised worker-centered trade model, IPEF must include strong labor rights commitments based on standards set in the International Labor Organization’s core conventions, and it must also include facility-specific enforcement mechanisms, building off the Rapid Response Mechanism in the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). IPEF signatory countries must also be required to make the changes to their labor laws necessary to align them with their new IPEF obligations before the pact is signed by the United States. IPEF must take steps forward relative to the USMCA, not backward, on labor rights and labor enforcement." ![]()
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* On the Environment: "Given that previous U.S. trade agreements, including the USMCA, fail to even mention the term 'climate change,' IPEF will need to be particularly ambitious in its climate provisions if it is to help the United States and Indo-Pacific region achieve their climate and environmental justice goals. Among other environmental measures, IPEF must require that countries adopt, implement and maintain binding climate standards, and must likewise extend swift-and-certain enforcement mechanisms to those provisions."![]()
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* On "Digital Trade": "On the matter of 'digital trade,' IPEF’s terms must not be allowed to undermine the administration’s domestic anti-monopoly and tech regulation agenda by locking in international rules that threaten consumer privacy, data security, worker rights, civil rights, algorithm justice and competition policy here and throughout the Indo-Pacific. In comparison to the USMCA’s digital terms, any data flow guarantees or limits on safeguarding where data can be processed or stored must be scaled back significantly in any IPEF deal, with much broader exceptions added ... IPEF also must not include provisions that create special secrecy guarantees for Big Tech firms’ source codes and algorithms so that they can evade the pre-review and audits that are a feature of many criminal justice, civil rights, worker rights and other bills and the administration’s AI Bill of Rights.”![]()
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Learn more at: tradejusticeedfund.org/issues/ipef/ *
Please join us Wednesday, February 22nd at 5:30 pm to learn about the struggles and resistance of workers, migrants, women, environmental activists, farmworkers, and more against the neoliberal structure of free trade, and how corporations and governments oppress workers and peoples movements. You will also have an opportunity to take part in planning our organizing campaign. Please register at tinyurl.com/pnwAPEC! BAYAN USA Seattle Trade Justice Education Fund International League of Peoples' Struggle - ILPS Seattleattle
www.citizen.org
The U.S. State Department revealed its initial defense yesterday in the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) case brought by TC Energy, a Canadian company that is attacking the Biden administratio...
Thanks to ALL who participated in our trivia night fundraiser last week! Congrats to the Planetarians on being crowned the 2022 Fair Trade Trivia Champs ! 🎉 ![]()
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UFCW 3000 BlueGreen Alliance Trade Justice Education Fund Community Alliance for Global Justice Washington State Labor Council
Date and Format change! Due to ongoing concerns we've heard from folks about gathering in-person, we've decided to move our fundraiser to a virtual format. To that end, we have selected a new date and time that would be more suitable for an online event. Our fundraiser will take place on Thursday, November 10th from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. RSVP at bit.ly/3Rw3RD3
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.Fair Trade Not Free Trade
What Would It Look Like?
For too long, U.S. trade policy has benefited transnational corporations
at the expense of workers’ rights, consumer safety and the environment
at home and abroad. The Washington Fair Trade Coalition, working closely
with local, national, and international partners, aims to build a new model of
trade, a model that supports our communities and our world. What could that look like?
Free Trade Facts
The Impact Of Free Trade Policy In Washington State