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In our latest episode of Rethinking Trade, weâre talking about the major trade event of the year -- the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Itâs a major global biennial meeting where cabinet-level officials, like U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, get together to set the agenda for the international trade and commerce body.
Rethink Trade Research Director Daniel Rangel was on the scene in Abu Dhabi. In this episode he dissects the outcomes (or lack thereof!) at the conference. Lori and Daniel explore the implications for the WTO itself as well as fisheries stocks, anti-hunger programs, and much more. You also donât want to miss how the WTO Director-Generalâs agenda-setting efforts impacted the negotiations. -
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Tariffs are in the news again! Why does that term generate such vitriol from some quarters and joy from others?!
This week, we explore that question with Scott Paul, the President of the Alliance for American Manufacturing.
Scott and host Lori Wallach discuss how increasingly Democrats and Republicans alike now view tariffs as just another policy tool. For most of U.S. history, this was the American perspective. Tariffs - charges collected at the border on imported goods - were the main source of government revenue when the country was founded.
It seemed useful to unpack what tariffs are and who is generating the negative hype about them given the recent wave of news stories attacking the very concept. Spoiler alert: Tariffs are not a scary, dangerous thing lurking in your economy in the middle of the night! -
Our latest episode of the Rethinking Trade podcast offers an urgent update about the de minimis loophole that we first discussed in 2022. It has gotten much worse.E-commerce sites like Amazon, Shein and Temu use this loophole to skirt U.S. Customs and safety inspections and dodge all taxes and trade-cheating enforcement sanctions. Uyghur forced-labor products slip in and fake and dangerous goods too. The loophole is also increasingly being used by criminals to deliver illegal drugs with tragic consequences wracking families nationwide. Our special guest this week is one of the nationâs leading experts on this dangerous scam. Kim Glas, a fighter for fair trade for decades from her roles in Congress, the Obama administration and a labor-environmental group is now president of the National Council of Textile Organization. She has all of the inside information and a strategy of how we can end the de minimis scam once and for all.
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In our latest episode, we have two very special guests - voices you will know - talking about a corporate trade power tool that definitely should be on the âout with the oldâ list!
Weâre talking about Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) and its implications for our economies and democracies. First, a quick refresher:
What is ISDS?
ISDS grants foreign investors special rights and privileges, allowing them to sue governments outside of domestic courts. These suits often result in staggering compensations for corporations, all while undermining public policies.
ISDS has to go.
Thatâs why we teamed up with Nobel-winning economist Prof. Joseph Stiglitz and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), our guests on this podcast, to release a paper that we co authored with experts from Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment and the Center for the Advancement of the Rule of Law in the Americas at Georgetown University Law Center, about how we can exit out of ISDS in the Americas.
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Welcome back to the Rethinking Trade podcast. Today we bring you the second half of our conversation with Suresh Venkatasubramanian. Suresh co-authored the Biden administrationâs Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, and is a leading national expert on AI oversight. With the imminent Biden Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence setting binding U.S. AI policy, thereâs never been a better time to get smart on this technology that impacts our lives.
Today in part two, we dive deeper into the AI landscape and uncover a potential landmine: Big Tech's plans to rig trade agreements with "digital trade" rules that could derail AI accountability and oversight. (If you missed Part One of our special two-part series on AI, you can hear it here.)
Lori Wallach and Daniel Rangel chat with Suresh Venkatasubramanian, who is now with Brown University after serving as Assistant Director for Science and Justice in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Daniel joins Lori in this discussion because he just authored an interesting that unpacks the specific ways AI accountability could be undermined if Big Tech interests get their way in trade negotiations. Danielâs report is super accessible, which is good because Big Tech's digital trade ploy is very sneaky.
Please give Daniel's report a read after you listen to this two-part series! -
Greetings from DC!
OK, hope all you 2001: A Space Odyssey fans got a chuckle and no HAL9000 is not joining this edition of the podcast! We have a much better guest, Suresh Venkatasubramanian who co-authored the Biden administrationâs Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights.
We've all seen Artificial Intelligence or "AI" making headlines recently, and it's raising critical questions:
* How will AI impact our daily lives? * And just how do we regulate it to limit what seems like seriousrisks? * How do we make sure Big Tech interests do not use âdigital tradeâagreements to pre-empt AI accountability?
Join us for Part One of a special two-part Rethinking Trade series on AI, where we delve into these pressing issues. In this episode, Rethink Tradeâs Lori Wallach and Daniel Rangel engage in adiscussion with Professor Suresh Venkatasubramanian who is now with Brown University after serving as Assistant Director for Science and Justice in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
Together, we explore what AI actually is, its real-worldapplications, how it is affecting us right NOW, and how governments can help limit its threats and maximize its benefits. In Part 1 of this fascinating conversation with Suresh, you'll gain a deeper understanding of what AI is and how it could shape our future.
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Once you've finished listening to our new episode with Larry Cohen, check out this mini-episode as he discusses the UAW strike.
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We're thrilled to present our latest episode of the Rethinking Trade podcast. Lori is joined by Larry Cohen, former President of the Communication Workers of America, for a guided tour of the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike. Spoiler alert: Thereâs a lot more about this strike and how it could impact all of us than most of us know.
Larry brings his decades of experience building worker power and broad knowledge of labor history to discuss:
· The big issues not gaining headlines, like howthe strike could broadly shape U.S. workersâ fate in the future green economy,
· The role this strike plays in the arc of U.S. workersstruggles,
· Where we need to go from here, including what weneed to push Congress to do.
Larryâs knowledge and experience makes this conversation amust-listen for anyone interested in a fair economy and social justice.
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We're thrilled to present our latest episode of the Rethinking Trade podcast. Lori is joined by Larry Cohen, former President of the Communication Workers of America, for a guided tour of the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike.
(Spoiler alert: Thereâs a lot more about this strike and how it could impact all of us than most of us know!)
Larry brings his decades of experience building worker power and broad knowledge of labor history to discuss:
· The big issues not gaining headlines, like how the strike could broadly shape U.S. workersâ fate in the future green economy,
· The role this strike plays in the arc of U.S. workers struggles,
· Where we need to go from here, including what we need to push Congress to do.
Larryâs knowledge and experience makes this conversation a must-listen for anyone interested in a fair economy and social justice.
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In the latest episode of Rethinking Trade, our guests unpack the specific policies safeguarding Europeansâ privacy, busting Big Tech monopolies, and banning the most risky uses if AI. Yup, all of the policies Big Tech has managed to evade here so far⊠Weâre joined by:
Calli Schroeder, Senior Counsel and Global Privacy Counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center
Jesse Lehrich, Co-Founder of Accountable Tech
Calli and Jesse also have some great ideas about what we can do to secure some of the same safeguards. And how does this connect with trade, you ask? ICYMI, in past episodes weâve exposed how the current favorite strategy of Big Tech lobbyists trying to kill the EUâs policies and evade any oversight here is to claim that these policies are illegal trade barriers.
Itâs confusing because they say that, but are also trying to get new rules negotiated in Asian and global trade agreements that actually would ban such policies. And also somehow if they do not get their way, China will benefit.
Yup, it makes no sense. But thatâs the line. And its a fight that is heating up right now. If nothing else, we promise if you listen you will know what all the EU acronyms you hear in the news mean - GDPR, DSA, DMA - oh my!
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If you thought the air travel fiasco could not get worse, consider the scary news that airlines are offshoring the maintenance work needed to keep planes safe. Itâs the same greedy cost-cutting behind the outdated computer systems and gutted airline staffing that is causing the epic air travel meltdowns upending millions of peoplesâ lives. In the race-to-the-bottom offshore aircraft maintenance facilities in El Salvador, Singapore, China, and Brazil mechanicsâ special aircraft certifications, security and background checks, and drug testing is waived. And of course there are no FAA inspectors doing spot checks. Just like with the flight schedule Hell, the Department of Transportation is letting the airlines get away with it. Experts say itâs just a matter of time before there is a horrific incident.
In this episode of Rethinking Trade with Lori Wallach, we are joined by the two people in the country who know the most about this threat. William McGee, Senior Fellow for Aviation and Travel at the American Economic Liberties Project, is Americaâs leading aviation consumer safety and rights expert with 22 years at Consumer Reports. Heâs a former FAA licensed aircraft dispatcher. Gary Peterson is the Vice of the Transport Workers Union and a certified Airframe and Powerplant aviation mechanic by trade. He is Executive Director to the International President and former Air Division Director at the union. Gary worked for decades for American Airlines leading the teams who safety inspect and rebuild planes. He also served as crew chief doing maintenance on aircraft in the Air Force. Gary, Bill and Lori talk about the lunacy of offshoring aircraft safety inspection and maintanace lunatic practice has been allowed and how to fix the problem now.
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Shock waves were sent through Washington, D.C.âs many trade wonks when the U.S.-China Economic and Security Commission gave a unanimous bipartisan recommendation that Congress consider ending Chinaâs Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR). Opponents of China PNTR were trashed as idiots, protectionists and doom mongers during a brutal 2000 U.S. national debate about Chinaâs trade status and entry into the World Trade Organization. Now 22 years later, those opponentsâ concerns proved not only to be right, but understated. But its a rarity in Washington to have high-level commissioners half appointed by the GOP while Democratic leadership AGREE to call for the reversal of a major policy mistake. âHallelujah!â was the response from a labor leader receiving the news, while a small business CEO emailed us back an âAmen!â
Whether or not Congress will follow the recommendation remains to be seen. But the fact that the U.S.-China trade debate has come to this juncture is both shocking, and based on the outcomes of the last 22 years, is not shocking at all.
On this episode of Rethinking Trade with Lori Wallach, we are joined by Michael Wessel, an original member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, who is one of the nationâs leading experts on China trade and security. Lori and Michael unpack how we got to this juncture, the damage that was done along the way, the supply chain issues we are now dealing with, and our options going forward for U.S.-China trade relations. This episode provides the color commentary to bring context to the endless parade of China trade headlines in the news.
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The U.S. finally is getting its act together on climate with big new tax credits for people who buy electric vehicles (EVS) and go solar and incentives for companies to do invest in green production. So why are European and Asian governments steaming mad at us and screaming âtrade barrier!!â in numerous languages, instead of cheering our better-late-than-never climate action? Especially given we only have less than 10 years to take drastic measures or face dire climate catastrophe! Will the Biden administration cave in and roll back these excellent new policies that were explicitly designed to simultaneously counter the interrelated crises of climate chaos, supply chain meltdowns causing shortages and inflation, and economic inequality and anxiety?
On this episode of Rethinking Trade with Lori Wallach we unpack what was in the Inflation Reduction Act and how it can help more people get an EV, go solar, have reliable supplies of such products and good jobs making them. Ben Beachy, the Vice President of Manufacturing and Industrial Policy at the BlueGreen Alliance explains it all. Plus, Ben and Lori make sense of the short-sighted sniping from other countries. (Hint: Think circular firing squad!)
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Every election is THE most important in our lifetimes, except the 2022 midterms and 2024 presidential actually are. How have we come to this crisis of democracy? A team of data scientists, opinion researchers, and strategists spent a year studying the two-time Obama voters who then elected Trump in 2020 and their shattered communities. The resulting âFactory Towns Projectâ demolishes the conventional wisdom about the path forward for democracy and Democrats. And yes, decades of corporate-rigged trade deals and economic policies that killed millions of manufacturing jobs in thousands of âfactory townsâ are part of this story.
On this episode of Rethinking Trade with Lori Wallach we get a guided tour from the two âFactory Towns Projectâ leaders: Celinda Lake, President of Lake Research Partners, who is one of the Democratic Partyâs leading political strategists and one of two lead pollsters for the Biden campaign in 2020. And Mike Lux, co-founder of Democracy Partners and President of Progressive Strategies LLC. Spoiler: going moderate and mushy to target suburban voters is not the way forward for Democrats. More importantly, making America meet its promise by delivering for the factory town communities is critical to the health of our democracy.
Here is the link to the report: https://www.americanfamilyvoices.org/post/winning-back-the-factory-towns-that-made-trumpism-possible
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Your doctorâs not at fault if you donât know about IPEF. Itâs not a new virus. But it could harm billions of people. Or not. IPEF = Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. Setting rules for 40% of the worldâs economy is the goal of this recently-launched âtradeâ negotiation. With the public and Congress locked out so far, few people even know about these talks involving 14 nations.
Big Tech interests are using their money and lobbyists and the IPEFâs secretive process to try to rig it. They want to lock in their power and monopolies to rake in the profits by trading in our personal data, tracking us, flooding our kids with garbage, and crushing competitors. Some in the Biden administration hope to harness IPEF to develop a new âworker-centeredâ trade policy. Others seem to be in cahoots with Big Tech. In this episode of Rethinking Trade with Lori Wallach, Lori breaks down what the IPEF is, how these talks could affect each of our lives and why we all need to start paying attention to IPEF before itâs too late.
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After two years of pandemic and 15 million dead, how did the first big global WTO summit end with WTO intellectual property barriers still blocking global access to COVID meds? This episode exposes how a sham text gavelled through in the middle of the night and produced a worse-than-nothing outcome only Big Pharma can love. How could this happen given more than 100 WTO countries wanted a real fix?
On this episode of Rethinking Trade with Lori Wallach we bring back two activist lawyers we heard from earlier in the fight: Fatima Hassan at Cape Townâs Health Justice Initiative, South Africa and Sangeeta Shashikant with the global Third World Network. Together, theyâll walk through what happened, how weâve been collectively gaslighted, and the current state of affairs. The fight for global access to COVID meds continues!
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On this episode of Rethinking Trade with Lori Wallach weâll expose Amazonâs big little secret â a loophole which allows Amazon and other online giants to import billions of dollars in uninspected, unsafe, tax-dodging goods from China into the United States every year. Only Uzbekistan has a bigger âde minimisâ loophole, which is the technical name for this scam. Today, more than two million such uninspected packages slip through every day from China alone.
Lori is joined by one of our countryâs great champions for working people and manufacturing, the President and CEO of the National Council of Textile Organizations, Kim Glas. She will break down how this loophole works, who it is hurting and whatâs being done to fix it.
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In this episode, Lori talks with two trailblazing attorneys: Fatima Hassan at Cape Townâs Health Justice Initiative, South Africa and Sangeeta Shashikant with the global Third World Network. They discuss why after 18 months, there still is no deal to waive the WTO intellectual property rules blocking global access to COVID vaccines, treatments and tests. And the dire threats posed here and there by less than 20% of people in developing countries being vaccinated. And if you were confused by news that a deal to fix this WTO mess was reached, weâll help make sense of that too. What *really* happened is a story of attempted steamroller tactics being stopped by people power. Plus, they discuss whatâs next in the fight to end the pandemic.
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In this episode, Lori talks with a leading public health expert about how we could END the pandemic and how World Trade Organization monopolies for Big Pharma are blocking that. Health GAP director Asia Russell, who helped bust Big Pharma monopolies to get HIV-AIDS meds to people worldwide, lays out the current COVID situation worldwide and what actions can end the pandemic.
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In Part 1 we discussed some of the big issues at stake at the World Trade Organizationâs 12th Ministerial conference, which was scheduled to take place last week in Geneva. That meeting, however, was postponed after the introduction of travel restrictions related to the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Ironically, WTO countries enacting the waiver to get WTO IP barriers out of the way of making the meds to end the pandemic is what many people would consider to be the number one issue for the WTO to act on. A temporary suspension of WTO intellectual property barriers is needed so qualified producers in developing countries can produce more vaccines, tests and treatments for COVID-19. But while the WTO has again failed to deliver such a waiver, and with a new variant spreading fast, a number of WTO member nations somehow found time to make a new agreement limiting environmental and consumer regulation in the service sector.
On todayâs show, we discuss the status of the TRIPS waiver, dig into this dangerous and potentially illegal agreement on services deregulation, and ask what could and should happen between now and the next WTO general council meeting to help end the pandemic.
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Music: Groove Grove by Kevin MacLeod.
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3831-groove-grove.
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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