Rushed, Secret NAFTA Deal Unlikely to Deliver for North America’s Communities Reports Suggest Weak Environmental Standards and Handouts to Corporate Polluters in Haphazard “Deal”.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Monday August 27, various news outlets are reporting that negotiators from the United States and Mexico announced they reached a preliminary agreement on a new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that excludes Canada.
Both Mexico and Canada have said that they will not finalize a bilateral deal with the U.S. but rather all three countries will need to agree to a trilateral agreement.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:
“Workers, environmentalists, and communities across all three NAFTA nations have demanded a trade agreement that protects jobs, clean water and air, climate, and their rights, not this toxic proposal that was brokered haphazardly and secretly to try and help Trump score political points.
Corporate polluters have had unparalleled access to the negotiations while the public continues to be shut out.
All we know from these backroom talks is that Trump plans to replace a failed trade deal with one that weakens environmental standards and continues to allow corporations to outsource jobs and pollution to Mexico, harming communities on both sides of the border.
If this deal moves forward as is, it will exacerbate — not relieve — NAFTA’s decades of damage to North America’s communities.”
By Javier Sierra
Email: javier.sierra@sierraclub.org
Source: Sierra Club
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