Toxic trade deals like TTIP have given Trump oxygen – we can defeat them both
By: Nick Dearden
Date: 16 November 2016
Campaigns: Trade
Corporate trade deals like the US-EU agreement TTIP have been cynically exploited by Donald Trump to win the presidency of the United States. He has used those deals to show that the political system has been corrupted by big business. But Donald Trump will not stop this corporate corruption – he will make it far worse.
TTIP is already dead – killed off by the millions of European and American activists who have campaigned against it for the last 3 years. This campaign has been run by people who believe in an open, equal and democratic society where diversity is embraced and everyone’s rights are respected. We objected to TTIP because it would be bad for ordinary people, whatever their background. We objected to it because it would further erode our democracy and hand power to big money – to businessmen like Donald Trump.
It is precisely billionaire businessmen like Donald Trump who have exploited deals like TTIP for decades. Donald Trump has made a fortune from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which has devastated communities, lowered wages and privatised public services.
Despite his rhetoric, Trump fully believes in deregulation, privatisation, and putting profit before people. No wonder stocks in some of the deadliest corporations in the world have soared following Trump’s election. His economic policy will not help working class communities. He is a divisive force who will tear apart communities and make it harder for them to defend themselves from the business interests he represents. Trump’s policies are based not on fairer trade, but on exploiting foreign countries, risking international tensions and dumping economic problems onto others. It is exactly these policies that gave rise to the world wars of the twentieth century.
Trade deals like TTIP and CETA have given oxygen to Trump. The best way to defeat him is to remove that oxygen – to stop these trade deals and build a democratic economy that works for everyone.
We know that politicians are now more fearful of opposing deals like CETA – which is currently making its way through the European parliament. This is exactly the wrong lesson to pull from Trump’s election. To defeat the politics of racism and hatred represented by Trump and the far right in Europe, we call on politicians to support economic policies which will benefit the majority of people, which eradicate poverty, which create decent jobs, good quality public services and which halt climate change. The first step they must take is to vote to stop CETA in the coming weeks.
Signatories:
Nick Dearden, Global Justice Now
Mark Dearn, War on Want
Ruth Bergan, Trade Justice Movement
Kevin Courtney, National Union of Teachers
Bert Schouwenburg, GMB,
Tim Flitcroft, NoTTIP UK
Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP
Alberto Martinez, ATTAC Spain
Lucía Bárcena Menéndez, Ecologistas en Accion, Spain
Alberto Zoratti, Stop TTIP Italia
Moica de Sisto, Fairwatch, Italy
Vicent Maurí, Intersindical Valenciana
Gisella Evangelisti, Local-Global Organization, Vicenza, Italy
Amalia Ribelles, CEDSALA (Centro de Estudio Documentación Y Solidaridad con América Latina )
Claudine Gaidoni, Attac Ireland
Alexander Strickner, Attac Austria
Amélie Canonne, AITEC (Association Internationale des Techniciens Experts et Chercheurs)
Konstantinos Foteinakis, Naturefriends Greece
Frédéric LeMaire, Attac France
Györgyi Újszászi, Védegílet Egyesület, Hungary
Jürgen Maier, Forum Umwelt & Entwicklung, Germany
Sujata Dey, Council of Canadians
