The Denver Post

Trade deal will be harmful to Colo.

- By Sam Schabacker and Josh Downey

his year, Congress will vote on the controvers­ial Trans-Pacific Partnershi­p (TPP), a 12-nation trade deal that promises more peril than prosperity for Coloradans.

The proponents of this trade deal offer the same tired rhetoric of more exports. The rosy prediction­s have been debunked by the harsh realities of 20 years of the corporate-driven free trade agenda.

The TPP proponents are right about one thing: The TPP is tough. It’s tough on Colorado’s workers, families and the environmen­t. The TPP is about more than just imports and exports: The deal has just as much to do with commonsens­e public health, environmen­t and consumer protection­s that could end up on the TPP chopping block.

Politician­s harp on the exports, but totally ignore rising imports and the ballooning trade deficit that has been caused by these so-called free trade deals. When we import way more than we export, it costs good jobs here at home. Past free trade deals have offshored millions of U.S. jobs and contribute­d to growing economic inequality. Colorado has lost more than 70,700 jobs from the North American Free Trade Agreement and the China trade deals alone, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

That means Colorado has lost more jobs due to trade deals than are currently supported by exports — and the TPP will only hasten the job losses. TPP members like Vietnam and Malaysia have blood-curdling labor problems — both have pittance wages, and Vietnam’s rampant child labor problems are overshadow­ed only by Malaysia’s widespread forced labor. The toothless TPP labor provisions and side deals won’t prevent these abuses.

Not only will the TPP force American workers to compete with underpaid children and unpaid forced labor, some TPP countries also manipulate their currency to artificial­ly pump up their exports. When Japan devalues the Yen, Japanese car exports look very cheap. The TPP lacks enforceabl­e provisions to stop this kind of currency chicanery, which will make imports rise even faster.

Trade pacts like NAFTA and the China deals offshored high-quality jobs that offered higher pay and benefits that provided economic security and mobility for working families. There is consensus among economists that these trade deals have significan­tly contribute­d to the growing income and wealth inequality. Now many Coloradans are left behind even when the overall economy prospers.

Equally troubling is the TPP’s corrosive impact on democracy itself. Trade agreements have been used to weaken domestic safeguards through foreign trade tribunals that determine whether U.S. laws or regulation­s are illegal trade barriers. These secret trade courts have provided a new venue to undermine or eliminate crucial environmen­tal, public health and consumer protection­s.

This month, the World Trade Organizati­on ruled that our country-of-origin meat labels were an illegal trade barrier and authorized $1 billion in trade penalties. The meat industry has tried to eliminate these commonsens­e labels for years but has been stonewalle­d in Congress and the courts by overwhelmi­ng public support for the labels.

Now, the Senate is expected to quickly repeal the mandatory labeling law, calling into question President Obama’s contention that “No trade agreement is going to force us to change our laws.” The TPP has tougher, more aggressive provisions governing food safety, pesticides, toxins and other hazards than any other trade deal, which will make it even easier to trump U.S. environmen­tal and food-safety standards.

America deserves a real 21st century trade deal that puts workers, the environmen­t and safeguards first. A fair deal that expands the economic pie for everyone and not just the well-connected industries with fleets of limousine lobbyists. Colorado’s congressio­nal delegation should stand with their constituen­ts, not the special interests, and reject the TPP. Sam Schabacker is the Western Region director for Food & Water Watch. Josh Downey is president of the Denver Area Labor Federation.

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