Pacific Northwest conference call on the Korea Free Trade Act 7/27

[eridani]

Conference Call -
Northwest Briefing on the Korea Free Trade Agreement
Tuesday, July 27
12:00 noon Pacific

RSVP to info {at} oregonfairtrade.org for call-in number


President Obama recently announced his intention to push ahead with the Korea Free Trade Agreement immediately after the November elections. This Bush-negotiated pact is the biggest free trade agreement since NAFTA. If passed, it will accelerate the offshoring of Northwest jobs, expose the region's environmental laws to new forms of attack and prohibit the type of banking regulations needed to head off the next financial crisis.

We need to stop the Korea FTA from moving forward now, before it's too late. Together, we can put enough pressure on Congress that this outrageous proposal gets sent back to the drawing board - but we need your help.

The Oregon Fair Trade Campaign and the Washington Fair Trade Coalition invite you to our first joint briefing about the Korea Free Trade Agreement, the politics surrounding it and what we can do in our labor, environmental, community and faith organizations to take the wind out of its sails. The first half of the call will devoted to explaining the in's and out's of the Korea FTA and the history of opposition to it. The second half will be devoted to sharing resources you can use to help sound the alarm and mobilize effective opposition.

The call is on Tuesday, July 27 at noon. Please RSVP to [e-mail], and we'll see you the call-in number. If you have any questions in the meantime, please don't hesitate to contact either of us.
Yours in solidarity,

Arthur Stamoulis and Kristen Beifus
Oregon Fair Trade Campaign/Washington Fair Trade Coalition
[phone]/[phone]

[roxiejules]

1. Had no idea this was happening!

Found this info from EPI and Public Citizen:

http://www.epi.org/economic_snapshots/entry/free_trade_agreement_with_korea_will_cost_u.s._jobs/

http://citizen.typepad.com/eyesontrade/


Free Trade Agreement with Korea will cost U.S. jobs

EPI’s research shows it will increase the U.S. trade deficit with Korea by about $16.7 billion, and displace about 159,000 American jobs.

The USITC has a history of vastly underestimating the negative impacts that free trade agreements have on the U.S. economy. In 1999, it estimated that China’s entry into the World Trade Organization would increase the U.S. trade deficit with China by only $1.0 billion, and have no significant impact on U.S. employment. In fact, the U.S. trade deficit with China increased by $185 billion between 2001 (when China entered the WTO) and 2008, and 2.4 million U.S. jobs have been displaced or lost. The U.S. trade deficit with Mexico also rose rapidly after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect in 1994.

With U.S. unemployment close to 10%, and an employment gap of nearly 11 million jobs, it would be foolish and self destructive for the United States to implement a free trade agreement with Korea that leads to further job loss.