Received this e-mail today from Democracy for America:
Renegotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have begun and already there's a lot to be worried about.
Fixing NAFTA is a good idea. But that's not what Donald Trump has in mind. Trump plans to do the bidding of big corporations by taking parts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and inserting them into NAFTA.
Specifically, Trump wants to include a dangerous provision called the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). This allows major corporations to sue the United States over our environmental, health care, labor, and safety laws.
Instead of going to a U.S. court, the decision is made by a panel of corporate lawyers. If the big corporations win, they can wipe away critical legislation designed to protect workers and our environment, all while sticking the American people with the bill. This was one of the main objections to the TPP -- and now Trump wants to add it to NAFTA.
Will you join Democracy for America, the AFL-CIO, and a coalition of powerful progressive organizations in opposing this bad deal for the American people?
Sign the petition: Tell your representative to vote no on Trump’s NAFTA corporate power grab!
Here's how Elizabeth Warren described the Investor-State Dispute Settlement in a Washington Post op-ed:
"Imagine that the United States bans a toxic chemical that is often added to gasoline because of its health and environmental consequences.
If a foreign company that makes the toxic chemical opposes the law, it would normally have to challenge it in a U.S. court.
But with ISDS, the company could skip the U.S. courts and go before an international panel of arbitrators.
If the company won, the ruling couldn't be challenged in U.S. courts, and the arbitration panel could require American taxpayers to cough up millions — and even billions -- of dollars in damages."
We cannot let Trump include this corporate assault on key environmental reforms and worker protections in NAFTA. Big corporations have already used NAFTA to destroy millions of jobs and communities across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. If Trump gets his way, the big corporations will have new powers under NAFTA to destroy much more.
The good news: Investor-State Dispute Settlement is incredibly unpopular with the American people. It's the kind of rip-off that helped to defeat the TPP. We can do it again, but we need your help.
Sign the petition: Stop Trump’s NAFTA corporate power grab that threatens worker safety and our environment!
Thank you for standing up against this bad deal.
- Jay
Jay Henderson, Digital Strategy Manager
Democracy for America
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