Closed door NAFTA negotiation silences those who want clean air and water
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Trump Administration today begins hosting the first round of negotiations on a new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in Washington, D.C. The negotiations run through Sunday August 20.
This week, Friends of the Earth released a blog entitled: 10 ways that Trump’s new NAFTA threatens people and the planet.
Bill Waren, Friends of the Earth senior trade analyst, issued the following statement:
Donald Trump demonized NAFTA during his presidential campaign, calling it “the worst trade deal” and made assurances that he would rework NAFTA to protect the American people. Now, he has modified his message. Trump plans not to reform NAFTA, but to provide even more handouts to corporate special interests. Trump clearly intends to use a new NAFTA to hamstring effective environmental regulation across the board and accelerate global warming.
Trump’s NAFTA renegotiation objectives will be destructive for people and the planet. By holding this week’s NAFTA talks behind closed doors, keeping the negotiating text secret, and shutting out environmentalists and other advocates to brief the negotiators on our policy positions, he is silencing the voices of Americans who want clean air and clean water. The obsessive secrecy of this week’s NAFTA negotiations can be explained by the Dracula principle; if daylight were allowed to shine on the secret text and the secret talks, then Trump’s proposed NAFTA deal, like a vampire, would wither and die.