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Trade Agreements

tafta-eu-usInternational trade agreements generally impose expansive constraints on federal, state and local authorities with respect to non-trade policies — from food safety to financial regulation to environmental and consumer protections and more.

In addition, trade pacts often establish new rights for foreign actors to operate under deregulated terms in financial services, natural resource extraction and other sensitive sectors.

In effect, these “trade” agreements amount to attacks on commonsense safeguards from above. By overriding long-established rules that protect public health and safety, they render local, state and national governments powerless to protect their own citizens through the normal regulatory process.

Below are some of the trade deals and trade-related issues that have attracted the attention of the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards and our members.

 


 

Proposed Trade Agreements and Bills

Fast Track

Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA)

 


 

Reports on Trade

Dealmaking Leads to Broken Promises and Lost Elections: Lessons from Past Trade Votes
Public Citizen: June 2015

TAFTA/TTIP and Consumer Concerns: Access to Knowledge and Health
Knowledge Ecology International: December 2013

Local Foods and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy: December 2013

Fighting the Transatlantic Corporate Bill of Rights: European Resistance Against the Proposed Investment Provisions in TTIP/TAFTA
Corporate Europe Observatory: December 2013

Global Government Surveillance Reform
Center for Digital Democracy: December 2013

Top 10 Threats of the Trans-Atlantic Trade Deal to Americans’ Daily Lives
Public Citizen: November 2013

Regulatory Harmonization: A Critical New Front in the Battle for Sensible Safeguards
Public Citizen: April 2013

Harmonization, Preemption, or Regulatory Convergence Will Result in Decreased Consumer and Worker Welfare
U.S. PIRG: April 2013

Brewing Storm Over ISDR Clouds Trans-Pacific Partnership Talks
Public Citizen: January 2013