June 29, 2011

The Korea Trade Deal in Two Minutes

Check out this two-minute film from Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch about the job-killing NAFTA-style Korea trade deal.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMyQ4OR44pg]

Or, if film isn’t your thing, read the script below. It is replete with links to images and underlying documents. And, if this makes you mad, do something about it. Click here to go to our action page.

Script:

It is heartbreaking, but true: After campaigning against more job-killing NAFTA-style trade agreement, President Obama has adopted Bush’s Korea trade deal.

It is opposed by labor, consumer, environmental and family farm organizations. The Chamber of Commerce and multinational corporations love it.

NAFTA with Korea is projected to cost 159,000 more American jobs and increase our trade deficit. Losers under this deal: the jobs of the future; solar and wind energy; mass transit equipment and more.

NAFTA with Korea is celebrated by the Wall Street firms who wrecked our economy. No doubt, it limits financial regulation.

NAFTA with Korea is opposed by many in Korea because of its financial deregulation and because it would allow up to 65% Chinese parts to go into “Korean” exports to the US–killing Korean jobs.

The Korea deal has the outrageous NAFTA-style provisions that empower multinational corporations to skirt our court systems and directly attack our state and federal laws before World Bank and UN tribunals to demand compensation from us taxpayers for any policies they say undermine their future expected profits. Under trade deals, this system has been used to attack toxics bans, forestry and mining laws, land use and zoning rules — even domestic court rulings.

NAFTA with Korea could also undermine our national security. The sanctions we have to keep the North Korea dictatorship from obtaining hard currency to build up its weapons systems would be undermined. A loophole in the deal would deliver billions to the North Korean regime. It allows goods assembled in South Korea but comprised of parts from the notorious Kaesong North Korea sweatshop zone to obtain special access to our market.

We can stop NAFTA with Korea by ensuring a majority in Congress vote against it. Opposition to more NAFTAs is one of the few issues that unite Americans across the political spectrum. You can make the difference visit www.citizen.org/korea to learn how you can take action to stop the Korea Trade Deal.