An Introduction to Fast Track

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An Introduction to Fast Track
OR-FTC

• The Oregon Fair Trade Campaign

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Three major questions

• What is Fast Track?
• Why should I care?
• Why does this matter now?

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What is Fast Track?

• The process the federal government currently uses
  to negotiate and approve international trade
  agreements.

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The Fast Track process meansMore NAFTA, More WTO

• NAFTA, CAFTA, the WTO, preferred trade relations
  with China all passed under Fast Track
• U.S. trade negotiators are actively trying to
  expand NAFTA to South America and Asia
• U.S. trade negotiators are trying to massively
  expand the scope of the WTO to cover public
  services and building trades

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The Fast Track process meansThe Export of U.S.
Jobs

• Oregon has already lost 68,000 jobs due to
  outsourcing and foreign competition
• Job losses have hit a wide range of sectors
• The millions of jobs lost across the U.S. are
  just a drop in the bucket if NAFTA and the WTO
  expand as planned

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The Fast Track process meansForced Privatization

• Plans to expand the WTO would require massive
  privatization of government services

• Education, health care, transportation, public
  works and more
• Almost any service a private company was willing
  to do would be at risk

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The Fast Track process meansThreats to
Prevailing Wages

• Plans to expand the WTO would make prevailing
  wage requirements, project labor agreements and
  Best Value ordinances WTO-illegal

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The Fast Track process meansEnvironmental
Rollbacks

• NAFTA and the WTO have already been used to
  challenge environmental protections
• Plans to expand NAFTA to South America and Asia
  would increase rip ship exploitation of the
  worlds most biodiverse areas

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The Fast Track process meansAttacks on Local
Democracy

• NAFTA and the WTO have already been used to force
  deregulation in a wide range of sectors
• Under plans to expand the WTO, taxpayer subsidies
  for a wide range of public services could become
  WTO-illegal

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The Fast Track process meansDecreased Food
Security

• This August, the United States became a net
  importer of food
• Since the early 1990s, more than 72,000 family
  farms have disappeared

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The Fast Track process meansIncreased Poverty
Abroad

• Millions of farmers have lost their livelihoods
  due to imports from the U.S. under NAFTA and
  CAFTA
• Patent rules under the WTO have reduced peoples
  access to medicines and enabled companies to
  claim patents on indigenous knowledge

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How is this connected to Fast Track?
Our ability to continue to advance the trade
agenda that weve had in the past is going to
depend upon getting Fast Track extended. --
Vice President Dick Cheney, 2/14/07
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The Fast Track process meansA Lack of
Transparency

• Fast Track eliminates normal Congressional
  committee review and mark-up of trade policy
  proposals

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The Fast Track process meansUndue Corporate
Influence

• Approximately 500 corporate lobbyists are given
  official Trade Advisor status
• They have access to negotiators and can even
  propose policy language

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The Fast Track process meansPositive
Objectives Get Ignored

• Instead of mandatory requirements, Fast Track
  includes weak negotiating objectives that trade
  negotiators are free to ignore

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The Fast Track process meansNo Improvements
Allowed

• Under Fast Track, there is no way for Congress to
  fix the most obvious problems with trade
  agreements

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The Fast Track process meansDebate Is Strictly
Limited

• Under Fast Track, trade policies come to the
  floor for a vote automatically so the Speaker
  of the House cannot block them
• The time for floor debate is strictly limited
  making filibusters impossible in the Senate

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The Fast Track Process

• Fast Track creates trade agreements that are

• Shrouded in secrecy
• Accountable only to corporate lobbyists
• Impossible to amend and very difficult to block

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Without Fast Track the free trade agenda would
not be possible

• A transparent process would draw more attention
  to the labor, environmental and human rights
  issues in trade agreements
• Fair Trade champions in Congress could offer
  amendments to bad trade proposals
• Champions could filibuster bad bills when
  necessary

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When we talk about Fast Track, were not just
talking about process.Were talking about jobs,
the environment, human rights and democracy.
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Why discuss Fast Track now?

• Fast Track expires in July
• Congress is currently debating whether to extend
  Fast Track or to seek out a better process
• This issue is being decided fast

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Oregon Plays a Major Role

• Oregons elected officials will play a major role
  in the Fast Track debate

• Sens. Wyden and Smith on key committee
• Only state with two Senators on it
• Rep. Blumenauer just joined key House committee
  and subcommittee
• Most of Oregons delegation seen as swing votes
  on Fast Track

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Were at a Crossroads

• What happens in 2007 will impact the countrys
  trade policies for years to come

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For more information

• Arthur StamoulisOregon Fair Trade Campaign
• [phone]orftc_at_citizenstrade.org
• Ask to sign up for our e-newsletter and how your
  organization can join our statewide campaign.