Both Trump and Biden imposed high tariffs on imported products made in China and other countries. Those impositions broke with and departed from the previous half century’s policies favoring “free trade.”
The history of African relations and investment governance with the North is far more disadvantageous than in the case of trade. Current international investment law regime protects and promotes the interests of the capital-exporting countries.
Unrest worldwide, and what it means
On July 1, 2020, NAFTA was replaced by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The new labor provisions require Mexico to restructure its labor relations system with US oversight. Mexican workers will most likely continue to suffer.
I learned two important lessons when young. One was that the company would do nothing for the workers unless forced by collective action. The other was that labor unions were instruments of both economic and social justice.
The 1994 NAFTA had both labour and environmental side agreements. These agreements were mere window dressing. The same can be expected with respect to the provisions of the Labour chapter in NAFTA 2.0.
Trump's "new" NAFTA is the old NAFTA. What we need are policies that benefits migrants, their home communities, and working people in the U.S. And we need a national policy that limits U.S. military and economic interventions abroad.
Pakistan's Marxist MP, SE Asians vs. RCEP, Polish Amazon Workers, Open Letter from Mideast Women, So Africa Workers Summit, Post-Election Turkey
The imbalances and inequities generated by the global economy cannot be tackled by protecting a few politically well-connected industries, using manifestly ridiculous national security considerations as an excuse. Such protectionism is a gimmick, not a serious agenda for trade reform.
Corporate America might regret calling the president’s bluff.
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