Oregon Fair Trade Campaign
"The TRADE Act" Offers a New Model for Trade
In 2008, a landmark piece of fair trade legislation called the TRADE Act was first introduced in Congress. The bill offered a way to help ensure that future trade policy actually benefits working people and strengthens the economy, as well as protecting consumers, the environment, public health and small farmers, both at home and abroad. UPDATE: The TRADE Act was reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representative on Tuesday, June 24, 2009 with 105 cosponsors -- including Oregon Congressmen Peter DeFazio and David Wu.
TAKE ACTION: Urge your Senators to cosponsor the TRADE Act when it is reintroduced this spring!
Oppose Bush's Hangover Trade Deal with Panama
The office of the U.S. Trade Representative has said it wants to move forward relatively quickly with the Panama Free Trade Agreement -- a trade deal negotiated by the Bush administration that repeats many of the same major problems found in NAFTA and CAFTA. Bush's Panama FTA represents business-as-usual on trade, and is not the type of change that voters were promised. Learn more about the Panama FTA and take action to stop it.
ORFTC's 2009 Trade Delegation to Mexico
In March 2009, the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign and Cross Border Labor Organizing Commission led a delegation of trade activists to Mexico to examine the topic of cross-border opposition to NAFTA.
Delegates met with small farmers, labor leaders, community organizers and maquiladora workers in Tlaxcala, Mexico City and Ciudad Juarez. Discussions took place on the affects of NAFTA in Mexico, the steps people are taking to oppose it and what NAFTA renegotiation could mean for working people on both sides of the border.
Visit our online report-back for a summary of the delegations findings and audio highlights from some of our meetings.
"Free Trade" and Financial Deregulation
"Regulation" has long been a dirty word in America -- but Depression-era banking regulations were what prevented major financial market crashes for over 60 years. Visit ORFTC's "Trade Pacts and Financial Deregulation" page to learn how the World Trade Organization mandated the deregulation of banks in the 1990s, and the role that has played in the current global financial crisis.
Trade in the 2008 Elections
Trade played an unprecedented role in Oregon's U.S. Senate race -- and an important role in dozens of other Congressional campaigns throughout the country. In Oregon, more than a dozen separate television ads featured trade messaging. Candidates who highlighted their "fair trade" positions did extremely well in Oregon and elsewhere.
ORFTC's White Paper: Trade in the 2008 Elections (PDF)
Jeff Merkley's Completed Questionnaire (PDF)
Barack Obama's Completed Questionnaire (PDF)
Voting Records of Oregon Senators and Representatives
The Oregon Stories Project
Approximately 74,500 Oregonians have lost jobs under NAFTA-style free trade deals. ORFTC has conducted one-on-one interviews with approximately 150 Oregon residents whose livelihoods have been adversely affected by offshoring, increased imports and/or dumping. Visit our Stories Project page for:
- The ORFTC reports "Livelihoods Traded Away" and "Faces of Free Trade and Job Loss," which outline trends across the state based on our interviews.
- A searchable directory of audio clips from some of the Stories Project's most powerful interviews.
- Information on how you can share your story with an ORFTC staff member or volunteer.
- An ORFTC fact sheet, template newsletter article and Power Point presentation on "Free Trade and Forced Migration."
- Basic principles for dealing with the question of undocumented immigration.
- Links to organizations at the state and national level that are helping to address the root causes of migration.
STAY INFORMED:
Sign up for free monthly trade updates with
THE OREGON FAIR TRADE MONITOR
VOTING RECORDS:
Check out where your elected officials stand on trade policy:
Voting Records on Trade for Oregon's Senators & Representatives
RESOURCE CENTER:
Colombia FTA