The Country is Not for Sale: Economic Development & Trade Zones (ZEDEs) vs National Sovereignty

EPISODE: The Country is Not for Sale-Economic
Development & Employment Zones (ZEDEs) versus National
Sovereignty


GUESTS: Beth Geglia, anthropology PhD, and
Melinda St. Louis, Director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade
Watch


BACKGROUND:


On May 3, Democratic U.S. lawmakers urged the U.S. Trade
Representative and State Department to eliminate investor-state
dispute settlement provisions from current and future trade deals
and to intervene on behalf of Honduras against a U.S. company's
nearly $11 billion claim against the country.


In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Trade
Representative Katherine Tai, 33 lawmakers said that
investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) systems in trade deals
constitute a "problematic corporate handout" that violates
countries' sovereignty and democratic rights.


ISDS mechanisms enable multinational corporations to sue the
governments of foreign trading partners for profits they claim
have been forfeited as a result of domestic policies designed to
protect workers, consumers, and ecosystems. Such lawsuits
challenge meaningful labor, product safety, and environmental
standards, and the mere threat of them can even preempt the
enactment of robust regulations, placing ISDS at the heart of
what critics have called neoliberal globalization's "race to the
bottom."


ADDITIONAL LINKS:


Senator Warren, Representative Doggett Call for Elimination of
Investor-State Dispute Settlement System, Action on Behalf of
Honduran Government


Warren Leads Call to End Dispute System “Weaponized” by
Corporations Amid Honduras Case


Center for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR)


Honduras Solidarity Network


Institute for Policy Studies (IPS)


 Latin America Working Group (LAWG)


Public Citizen/Global Trade Watch


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