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STATE LAWMAKERS URGE US EXIT FROM TOXIC ISDS MECHANISMS IN TRADE
DEALS
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Julia Conley
August 6, 2024
Common Dreams [[link removed]]
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_ "Outdated trade rules like ISDS can pose a real threat to states'
sustainable energy initiatives and the good-paying jobs they create,"
said one lawmaker from Maine. _
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to attendees while commemorating the
60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at the Lyndon Baines Johnson
Presidential Library on July 29, 2024 in Austin, Texas, Brandon
Bell/Getty Images
More than 300 state lawmakers signed a letter Monday calling on U.S.
President Joe Biden to "eliminate the threat of Investor-State Dispute
Settlement from all U.S. trade and investment agreements," joining
hundreds of civil society groups and dozens of members of Congress in
speaking out against rules that allow foreign corporations to
challenge state laws.
The legislators—who include Democrats, Republicans, and
Independents—expressed support
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for the official position of the National Conference of State
Legislatures (NCSL) regarding IDS, as the conference convened its
annual summit in Louisville, Kentucky.
The NCSL opposes trade deals "with investment chapters that provide
greater substantive or procedural rights to foreign companies than
U.S. companies enjoy under the U.S. Constitution."
The Biden administration has agreed with the NCSL's call to exclude
ISDS from any new trade agreements, but the U.S. is currently a party
to more than 50 trade and investment deals that contain the rules.
"It's long overdue that we change course. Getting rid of ISDS, which
embodies the runaway corporate power embedded in our trade deals, is a
great place to start.
ISDS rules empower corporations to sue governments if they claim their
profit margins are harmed by public programs, such as public health
regulations, environmental rules, food safety guidelines, or climate
laws aimed at reducing fossil fuel emissions.
The Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP), a trade deal
between the U.S. and 11 countries in Central and South America and the
Caribbean, contains
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and has allowed corporations to launch more than 230 legal challenges,
including a demand for $15 billion in U.S. public funds by the
Canadian company that proposed the Keystone XL pipeline.
"The outcomes of these cases, which can result in billions of U.S. tax
dollars paid to foreign corporations in compensation, are
determined in unaccountable tribunals presided over by unelected
corporate lawyers whose rulings are not subject to appeal," reads the
Monday letter from state lawmakers, including North Carolina state
Rep. Pricey Harrison (D-61), New York state Sen. Liz Krueger (D-28),
and Florida Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-42).
According to the letter, "even cases that get dismissed can result in
countries paying millions in tribunal costs."
Harrison said
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in a statement that "the era of corporate-dominated trade policy" has
contributed to a loss of 40% of North Carolina's manufacturing jobs.
"It's long overdue that we change course," said Harrison. "Getting rid
of ISDS, which embodies the runaway corporate power embedded in our
trade deals, is a great place to start. These extreme corporate rights
undermine democracy and critical public interest protections here at
home and around the globe. I'm glad to see so many colleagues from
across the political spectrum joining me in this effort."
Last November, 200 civil society groups demanded
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ISDS within APEP, and three dozen members of Congress wrote to U.S.
Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Secretary of State Antony
Blinken last May saying
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the U.S. should end the system's use in its trade agreements.
Allowing corporations to sue over laws that cut into their profits,
wrote the lawmakers on Monday, "threatens the policy space we need to
maintain high-level public health standards, create clean energy jobs,
protect the digital privacy and data-security of those we represent,
and much more."
Maine state Sen. Craig Hickman (D-14) expressed concern about ISDS
both as a lawmaker and "an organic farmer committed to curtailing the
severe impacts of climate change and strengthening rural economies."
"Outdated trade rules like ISDS can pose a real threat to states'
sustainable energy initiatives and the good-paying jobs they create,"
said Hickman. "I urge the administration to eliminate this antiquated
mechanism that stands in the way of sustainable food systems and the
clean energy economy we need to build for our children and
grandchildren."
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Julia Conley is a staff writer for Common Dreams.
* Investor-State Development Settlements; Corporate Trade Policies;
State Governments.
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