A fair alternative to both Trump and free trade ideologues

March 19, 2018: Jim Stanford from the Australia Institute writes in The Guardian that Trump’s unilateral and xenophobic approach to trade policy is dangerous and could lead to trade conflict. He argues we need an alternative to both Trump’s unilateralism and to corporate-dominated trade deals like the TPP.

Stanford sets out key principles for fairer trade, which include:

• trade deals should not prevent governments from regulating markets and businesses in the public interest
• trade deals should not give extra rights to foreign corporations to sue governments (ISDS) and should not strengthen monopolies for drug companies
• governments should retain the right to regulate foreign investment and speculative capital flows
• trade deals should have enforceable commitments to international labour rights and environmental standards
• a progressive trade policy must recognise there are winners and losers from trade, and must  include  high standards of social protection inclusion and job creation