Trump campaigned on renegotiating corporate trade deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) “big league.” However, in his first weeks of office, he nominated a cabinet of billionaires, a majority of whom supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
And thus far, he has shown no desire to get rid of the system that allows bankers and Big Oil executives to shape trade negotiations via backroom dealmaking. This is the same closed-door system that delivered us NAFTA and the TPP in the first place. Unless Trump ditches this system, it will be a clear sign that his tough talk on trade was just that – talk.
If Trump allows corporate insiders to continue to dominate trade negotiations, it’s likely that any resulting NAFTA renegotiation will primarily serve the interests of the corporate polluters that Trump happens to like.
For the past two decades, our trade policy has been written by and for corporations. Over 85 percent of the more than 500 “advisors” to the U.S. Trade Representative are from corporations or corporate lobbies, including Chevron and the National Mining Association, a lobby group for Big Coal. While the public is kept in the dark on trade negotiations, these corporate “advisors” are given privileged access and input on secret trade negotiating texts. This has allowed these companies to help write extreme trade deal rules – like the ones that allow corporations to sue governments in private tribunals over environmental policies – at the expense of workers, communities, and ecosystems across the world.
A new approach to trade starts with a new process to replace this closed-door system of corporate trade advisors. Trade negotiations, including any NAFTA renegotiation, should put the public at the center. That means inviting and incorporating public input from the start, and publishing online all proposals and negotiating texts so that we can see the trade rules that are being negotiated in our name.
But if Trump’s cabinet picks are any indication, he’ll prioritize his corporate friends over the public when renegotiating NAFTA. In fact, Trump has appointed executives from the very corporations that benefited from rigged trade deals to now chart his trade and foreign affairs agenda. He has elevated CEOs from influencers to outright administrators of trade and other policies – a massive corporate power grab.
Take Rex Tillerson, Trump’s Secretary of State and former CEO of ExxonMobil. Under Tillerson’s leadership, ExxonMobil not only funded climate change denial and violated essential environmental, health, and labor safeguards,, the oil giant also voiced support for the TPP, used NAFTA to sue Canada in a private tribunal over local policies affecting offshore drilling, and defended NAFTA from its many critics by stating that the deal had provided “real benefits.” Now, as Secretary of State, Tillerson gets to help shape the Trump Administration’s views on NAFTA. Indeed, in February Trump sent Tillerson to Mexico to represent those views.
Or take Wilbur Ross, Trump’s Secretary of Commerce, who is playing a leading role in setting Trump’s trade policy. Like Tillerson, Ross spoke favorably of the TPP before joining the Trump Administration. The former fossil fuel executive has indicated that one of Trump’s top trade priorities will be boosting fracked gas exports. This could increase energy costs and expand fracking in the U.S. while padding the pockets of Ross and Tillerson’s fellow fossil fuel CEOs.
We can’t afford another backroom NAFTA deal for the likes of Ross, Tillerson, or any other of Trump’s corporate friends.
Instead, any deal that replaces NAFTA must support – not undermine – a more stable climate, clean air and water, healthy communities, Indigenous peoples, and good jobs. This will require overhauling our trade negotiating process so as to put the public – not corporations – at the center.
You can help by asking your Member of Congress to publicly demand that Trump commit to a new public process for negotiating trade agreements: 1-888-701-6507