Lawmakers serving on the Energy and Commerce Committee waded through complexities having to do with the new NAFTA — whether it shields tech companies from liability for third parties that violate decency standards on their platforms. Oregon Rep. Greg Walden stated his preference that the Energy and Commerce Committee be given better engagement by the administration (where its proposed trade policies touch internet issues). Instead, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer declined the Committee’s invitation to appear before them Wednesday.
Vice President Mike Pence, featured in a new video made by Public Citizen (check it out here), continued his tour of U.S. cities so as to promote the new NAFTA, which — for lack of provisions demanded by Democrats — hasn’t yet earned a scheduling of Congressional vote.
Other voices recently weighing in on the trade deal’s pace and status include AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, the Machinists union, and former USTR Miriam Sapiro. While President Trumka (plus, President Martinez of IAM one week after) say to Congress not to act too quickly, Sapiro insists Congress should not ask for too many modifications or wait too long in case the president loses patience in pushing a new NAFTA.
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Yesterday, the USTR released the awaited (eighteen-page) document outlining its negotiating objectives for when — in thirty days — the U.S. is at the table with Mexico and Canada, to redo NAFTA. You can see the USTR’s document 
This comes from 
This graphic shows the timeline on how NAFTA renegotiation will proceed. The period for submitting public comments to the USTR ends THIS MONDAY, June 12. Get them in. 
We Rocked Against the TPP!
On Tuesday August 23rd there was a new addition to the Capitol skyline in Salem. As USW, UFCW, ORFTC, and others gathered on the steps of the capitol, 
Rock Against the TPP WEEKEND OF ACTION is coming to Oregon!
Featuring: Anti-Flag(acoustic), Golden Globe nominated actress Evangeline Lilly, Hari Kondabolu, Downtown Boys, Bell’s Roar, Danbert of Chumbawamba, Son of Nun, Taina Asili, and more
Portland & Beaverton, Oregon — Labor and community advocates held rallies and press events in Beaverton and Portland this week to discuss the release of a new government study that finds Oregon jobs in manufacturing, agriculture, forest products and the service sector are at risk under the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement. In front of a giant prop representing an unemployment line, they called on area Congress members Suzanne Bonamici (D-01) and Earl Blumeanuer (D-02) to oppose the TPP.
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) recently published its official findings on the TPP, which reveal:
The TPP was signed in February, but has not yet been submitted to Congress for a vote. It is widely expected to be considered by Congress later this year. Leading presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have all criticized the TPP as bad for American jobs, and have said it should not be approved by Congress. Representatives Bonamici and Blumenauer, however, have said they are undecided on the TPP. 
The ITC report’s unexpected findings included that the TPP would provide almost no gains for U.S. economic growth (only 0.15 percent by 2032) while reducing employment in manufacturing, shrinking the U.S. service sector trade surplus and increasing the overall U.S. trade deficit. Because the agency employs a model that incorporates unrealistic assumptions, such as constant full employment and no currency manipulation, past projections have systematically overstated the benefits of trade pacts relative to their outcomes. 
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AJ Mendoza, a queer activist, noted, “You cannot merely share sympathy with LGBTQ victims of the Orlando massacre and call yourself an ally. If you are an ally, you don’t get to pick and choose when to vote for solidarity” Mendoza, who became the first openly gay student at George Fox University, an evangelical university in Newberg, Oregon, now serves as Executive Director of One George Fox, and is no stranger to empty words. “The United States has chosen to believe in the ugly lie of collateral damage. There is no economic gain that merits sacrifice of human life.”
Jobs remained at the forefront of the rally, which accumulated signatures for an emerging campaign, “Bad Trade kills Good Jobs.” Be Marston, an organizer at PRIDE @ Work and lead Bartender at Portland 5 shared, “The struggle for queer justice and the struggle of the labor movement are deeply connected. Like the stonewall riots, we are not here to meet the status quo of corporate interests, we are here to fight power.” Nghia Nguyen, a local trans community activist, declared, “We will not let corporations co-opt our movement. Queerness has been challenging colonialism and capitalism for hundreds of years, and we will fight the TPP that values profit over people.”
January 2014 marked the twenty-year anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a pact that has had devastating consequences for people and the environment in all three countries (the US, Canada, and Mexico) and beyond. The pending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has been described as “NAFTA on Steroids,”and threatens to:
We are please to announce that our annual volunteer award goes to Wes Brain from Ashland, OR, who has been a leader for trade justice with the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign (ORFTC) before we were ORFTC. The Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment (ASJE) in Oregon was the precursor to ORFTC and was founded in 1999. Wes Brain was one of the first elected board of directors, representing the labor caucus. The Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment brought together rank-and-file laborers and environmental activists in a strategic alliance that worked to challenge economic policies that destroy good jobs and a healthy environment. As ORFTC does today, ASJE worked to build a world where nature is protected, the worker is respected, and unrestrained corporate power is rejected though grassroots organizing, education, and action. Wes has been at the forefront of the trade justice battle, sharing his talent for bringing together unlikely allies for the mutual and far-reaching benefits of our coalition. He has been the lead organizer on multiple trade justice demonstrations, educational events and lobby visits. He has housed, fed and trained ORFTC organizers, fundraised for the coalition, and helped shape its direction. 
By Laura Bolaños-Ramirez, Portland Jobs with Justice & ORFTC Intern
At the Oregon AFL-CIO 2013 Convention this weekend in Bend, OR delegates voted unanimously for 
Fair trade activists put the spotlight on secretive international trade negotiations in Vancouver B.C.
Corporations that benefit from NAFTA-style trade deals have long tried to frame the trade policy debate as one of being “for trade” or “against trade.” The implication has been that there is no alternative to business-as-usual trade pacts other than just folding up shop and ending trade altogether.