FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Josh Wise; 952-818-5474; josh@citizenstrade.org The Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition is very pleased that the legislature and governor reauthorized the Minnesota Trade Policy Advisory Council (TPAC) in a more robust form in the 2013 legislative session as part of the Jobs and Economic Development bill. “International trade negotiations are occurring constantly, and [...]

Right now, lobbyists and unelected government officials are meeting in secret to negotiate THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP! The TPP is a massive “free trade agreement” potentially involving the entire Pacific Rim – over 60% of the global economy – that would de-regulate the same corporations that caused the Great Recession and undermine the ability of local [...]

Offshoring on the Rise in Minnesota Last Year Minnesota Among the Hardest Hit by Trade-Related Job Loss in 2012; President’s “Trans-Pacific Partnership” Could Accelerate Job Loss Even Further Minneapolis, Minn. — The day before President Barack Obama is expected to promote his Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Free Trade Agreement as a job creation effort during the [...]

Since the middle of October, when we created this map, there were 19 new TAA claims. Among them were the a solar supply company in Lakeville moving production to China, and the “Quality and Regluatory team” from General Mills, as well as 4 graphic designers from the Pioneer Press getting outsourced to India. Click the [...]

For Immediate Release Contact: Josh Wise, 952-818-5474 “We are very happy that both senators from Minnesota are taking such a strong stand for the rights of workers in Minnesota and around the globe,” said Josh Wise, Director of the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition. “With countries such as Vietnam, which has been referred to as the ‘low [...]

When you do your holiday shopping will you know where the gifts you buy came from? Were they made by child labor? Were they made in a Sweatshop by someone making $2 a day? This year, make sure that the workers who make your gifts are treated fairly and ethically, whether its artisan crafts from [...]

Earlier this month, Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio introduced the 21st Century Trade and Market Access Act to reverse the horrible path we have gone down in promoting trade policy that benefits only multi-national corporations and the global 1%. First and foremost, it replaces what’s known as “Fast Track,” which limited Congress’s oversight of trade [...]

On Monday morning, Minnesotans rallied outside Cargill offices to protest corporate control of international trade negotiations and demand that negotiating texts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement be made available to lawmakers, the media, and the public. “Right now, hundreds of corporate lobbyists from companies like Cargill are in San Diego, writing rules [...]

It’s time Congress took a stand for open transparent government! Please see the important message from the Citizens’ Trade Campaign below: Despite having received over 42,000 petition signatures urging transparency in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Free Trade Agreement negotiations, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk continues to refuse to tell the American people what he’s been [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Josh Wise, 952-818-5474, josh@citizenstrade.org On first day of negotiations, Sen. Al Franken Urges Transparency on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Senator Al Franken has sent a letter to the United States Trade Representative (USTR), Ron Kirk, urging transparency in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement (TPP). The Dallas TPP summit is the 12th [...]