Iowans Call on Candidates to Support Fair Trade

by Seth Michaels, Dec 17, 2007

A coalition of Iowa community groups, including labor, environmental, consumer and faith organizations, is calling on presidential candidates to support better trade policies.

In a letter to presidential campaigns, the Iowa Fair Trade Campaign asked that candidates reject the current model of free trade agreements and commit to a set of principles to ensure that trade agreements under their presidency would be fair and equitable. The letter says:

Our nation faces critical choices about the rules of the global economy that make a difference to workers, family farmers, immigrants, the environment and human rights—both here in the United States and around the world. These choices will determine whether international trade and investment help only a few, or whether the benefits of trade are more equitably distributed, and whether accelerating globalization can coexist with vibrant democratic institutions, or whether it will continue to undermine them.

The letter also sets out the following principles:

·        A stronger congressional role in setting trade policy.

·        A commitment to labor rights, environmental and health standards, and other protections in any future trade agreement.

·        A thorough review of all existing trade agreements.

·        A new direction in international trade negotiations.

·        Protection of U.S. jobs and manufacturing base.

·        Implementation of policies to bring our trade deficit into balance.

Iowa hosts the nation’s first presidential test:  the Jan. 3 caucuses. Recent polls have shown a tight race among Democrats, with strong support for Sen. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.), former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) and Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.). On the Republican side, former Gov. Mike Huckabee (Ark.) has pulled into a recent lead over former Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.).

The letter, released Dec. 13, has not yet been signed by any presidential campaigns.

For more information on presidential candidates’ trade policy, visit Working Families Vote 2008.

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