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Trade Agreements

The U.S. has viewed trade policy as a key strategy for advancing neo-liberal economic policies of liberalization, privatization and de-regulation. As such, the U.S. has sought to negotiate and ratify comprehensive trade agreements that go beyond trade in goods and include such areas as services, investment, government procurement, intellectual property rights, agriculture, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and technical barriers to trade, among others. These comprehensive agreements have come under heavy criticism for their contribution to poverty, food insecurity, the dismantling of social services, and weakening of democratic institutions. The negative effects are most often felt by marginalized and impoverished populations, both in the U.S. and developing country partners.

The resources below address the key issues raised within U.S. bilateral trade and the World Trade organization.

U.S. Trade Policy

Trade liberalization was one of the defining issues in the U.S. mid-term elections of 2006. There is a growing concern about the negative effects of current economic and trade policy, particularly in the areas of job loss, stagnant incomes for the middle-class, and the environment. 2007 began with the Democrats return to the majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. However, the majority of Democrats remain generally supportive of the free trade agenda, expressing minor concerns that labor rights and environmental protections should be included in free trade agreements. Moderate Democrats were able to broker a deal with the White House which offered some improvement to the labor and environmental provisions in the US-Peru FTA and led to its passage in December 2007. Presidential Trade Promotion Authority expired in June 2007 and has not been reauthorized. At the time, it was determined that the pending agreements with Peru, Panama, Colombia, and South Korea would be subject to TPA provisions when/if they were brought to a vote. The White House has indicated that it hopes to secure passage of the FTAs with Panama, Colombia, and South Korea before the end of 2008.

Letter from representatives of religious institutions and faith-based organizations with extensive global relationships and concern, who oppose the pending U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Letter from faith-based organizations deeply concerned about the state of the global trade agenda in Congress. The May 10th agreement struck among Speaker Pelosi, Chairman Rangel, Rep. Levin and the Bush Administration was inconsistent with the will of the electorate expressed last November and registered in numerous polls of U.S. public opinion. Furthermore, Peruvian colleagues tell us that this agreement will harm ordinary people in their country, not fuel sustainable development; and they urge us to oppose it.

Letter from USGTN members and other
organizations and social movements in the United States working on issues related to women's economic, social and political equality, to express concern that the compromise reached between a small group of Senior Democrats and the Administration does not go far enough to correct the harmful impact on women of the proposed free trade agreements (FTAs) with Peru and Panama; does not address the systemic problems with the free trade model; will likely be unenforceable; and should not give support to renewal of "fast track" Trade Promotion Authority (TPA).

Analysis of trade in the Americas from a critical perspective, crosscutting gender and trade issues in an insight on the impact of trade negotiations within a gendered analysis of society.

World Trade Organization

Born from the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, on January 1st, 1995 the World Trade Organization (WTO) replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) as the presiding body of the multilateral trading system. As a result of criticism and outcry by developing countries, the Doha Round of trade negotiations "“ with a supposed "development agenda" "“ was launched in 2001. The Doha round agenda soon revealed a disconnect between the rhetoric of a round of negotiations dedicated to development and the interests of developed nations, as developed country Members revealed a plan for furthering liberalization of developing country economies in the areas of agriculture, manufacturing, services and intellectual property.

The resources below provide background information on the WTO and analysis of key debates.

This article will discuss the current direction of U.S. agriculture policy, the interaction with international trade rules and current proposals for the 2007 Farm Bill,contrasting those that seek to comply with trade obligations and those that present an
alternative to the current system

This USGTN resource addresses the outcomes of the 6th WTO Ministerial in Hong Kong in December 2005 in the areas of Development, Agriculture, Services and Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) and will highlight what was and wasn't agreed upon at the ministerial and point to ongoing concerns as the negotiations progress. This resource also critiques the role of the U.S. government in this process and calls for more effective and sustainable policies as we continue to closely monitor multilateral negotiations from a gender perspective.

This report focuses on the impact greater international trade, privatization and deregulation are having on U.S. women, their families and their communities, and tackles the critical issues of job opportunities, wages, access to social services, agriculture and democracy.