The Trans-Pacific Partnership and Trade Justice

The obligation to compensate investors for losses of expected profits can and has been applied even where rules are nondiscriminatory and profits are made from causing public harm. ... Imagine what would have happened if these provisions had been in place when the lethal effects of asbestos were discovered. Rather than shutting down manufacturers and forcing them to compensate those who had been harmed, under [the provisions of the TPP], governments would have had to pay the manufacturers not to kill their citizens. – Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate in Economics The inclusion of dangerous provisions that would dismantle public health safeguards enshrined in international law and restrict access to price-lowering generic medicines for millions of people. – Doctors without Borders [The TPP] is a Trojan horse in a global race to the bottom, giving big corporations and Wall Street banks a way to eliminate any and all laws and regulations that get in the way of their profits. – Robert Reich, Secretary of Labor, Clinton Administration Most of the TPP does not address traditional trade concerns but instead deals with many other economic issues including environmental standards, food safety, financial regulations, protections for workers and consumers, patents on pharmaceuticals, and energy policy. Under the guise of a “free trade” agreement, treaty negotiators are writing and rewriting the rules of the national and international economies, behind closed doors and in a very undemocratic process. – Edith Rasell, Minister for Economic Justice, U.C.C.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership and Trade Justice: Engaging Communities of Faith Gina Chamberlain Trade Justice Advocate with Interfaith Working Group on Trade and Investment

Gina Chamberlain has created an interactive presentation which allows participants to engage in trade justice topics from different points of view, sharing stories, assessing trade policy impact on their different communities, and discussing possible amendments to ameliorate harmful effects. In the process participants learn how trade agreements work and ways they can engage to work for change. June 19, 3:30 PM at Church of Christ Congregational, Norfolk, 12 Village Green, Norfolk, CT June 22, 7 PM at Church of the Redeemer, U.C.C. New Haven, CT June 24, 7 PM at First Church of Christ in Mansfield, Congregational, 549 Storrs Rd., Mansfield Center, CT