Trade Policy Recommendations

The recommendation below is an excerpt from a jointly crafted document by the Washington offices of 11 national faith communities and ecumenical institutions. The document offers in some detail a policy agenda for the new President on a U.S. response to global poverty and violent conflict in the world.

International trade can be one important engine of economic progress for developing countries. The United States and developing countries alike need fair and just trade agreements that are shaped to meet the goals of sustainable development and poverty alleviation.

International trade policies and practices present a moral challenge because of their profound effect on the lives of people around the world and on creation. Today there is a wide-spread conviction that our framework for trade policy must be reviewed and revised to better meet the needs of people facing the challenges of the new global economic environment.

Crafting trade policies that will foster the wellbeing of our global neighbors and the natural environment will also improve America’s well-being. U.S. trade policies must not be based primarily on narrow commercial interests, but must take into account long-term U.S. interests in a more secure, stable and just world. Global stability and real human security can be best achieved in a world in which poverty and inequality are declining and all people have the resources needed for lives of dignity, sufficiency and community participation.

As religious institutions, our message is that trade policies and agreements must put people first. They should further sustainable, people-centered social and economic development for our neighbors around the world while preserving and creating good jobs here at home. They must support governments in adopting policies to protect public health and the natural environment. Trade policies must strike a balance between creating a predictable structure for international trade and preserving the policy space necessary for governments to foster and secure economic, social and human development for all their citizens.

The next President should take the lead in forging a new more just framework for U.S. trade policy and international trade agreements.

Specifically, we urge the next Administration to:

• Ensure that trade agreements are formulated with full democratic accountability and citizen participation both in the United States and U.S. trading partners.
• Adopt trade policies that have a demonstrable pro-development impact on developing countries, strengthening their domestic markets, expanding livelihoods, bolstering small-holder farmers, promoting local agriculture and alleviating poverty.
• Formulate trade policies and agreements that prioritize long-term ecological sustainability and the stability of the climate, and protect and conserve the richness and diversity of the natural world.
• Require (pre and post) country impact evaluations to assess the effects of provisions in trade agreements on eco-systems, poverty eradication, job growth, food security and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
• Ensure that trade agreements preserve the right of developing countries to direct trade and development strategies, such that they retain control over their own development policies and are not forced to make trade concessions that negatively impact poverty alleviation strategies.
• Reform trade-distorting agricultural subsidies, so that U.S. commodity crops do not unfairly undermine local production in developing countries, threaten the livelihood of millions of farmers, and deprive developing countries of earnings and market share.
• Ensure that trade agreements preserve the right and capacity of developing countries to provide affordable access to essential medicines and essential public services, such as water, heath care and education, to their people.

Click here  to read the entire policy recommendations from communities of faith.