Hush-Hush Trade Agreements

As representatives of the U.S. government compete to gain voters’ confidence that they are in favor of governmental transparency, it seems that the government does not think the public need to know the ins and outs of international trade agreements.

Recruiters, whose business practices may be affected by these agreements, may want to know the details of these proposed agreements before they become law.

According to a press release from Public Citizen, prior to this week, four rounds of Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement talks were conducted. The nine countries now involved plan to conclude talks before a November summit in Hawaii. Trans-Pacific FTA talks have taken place behind closed doors, and none of the draft texts has been released.  This includes draft texts on the extremely sensitive issues of foreign investment and financial services, which were initially written in 2008 and are now the basis for current negotiations.

“Past trade negotiations have taken place in secrecy. While executives from hundreds of corporations were named official trade advisors and got access to the talks, most people whose lives were affected never got to see what our negotiators were bargaining for – and bargaining away – until it was all over,” said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch. “This had led to all sorts of negative consequences, many of which the negotiators probably didn’t foresee or intend. We’ve got a chance to do it differently this time, but time is running out.”