Remember during the debate over the Colombian trade deal when the Administration swore up and down that they would, as a condition of putting the free trade agreement forward, insist on an “action plan” that would end the murder of trade unionists in Colombia and bring about justice for those already killed? Yeah, so, we’re [...]

As Public Citizen’s Lori Wallach explained yesterday, the three trade agreements passed Congress in a whirlwind of activity last night, because a present for the President of South Korea’s visit to Washington today is more important than a considered debate about the role of neoliberal trade agreements and what they have traditionally done to US [...]

You’re watching Colombia Trade Agreement. See the Web’s top videos on AOL Video We have known for years about the dangers of being a trade unionist in Colombia, of the murders of organizers and labor officials. The murders have increased in frequency in the years since the US negotiated a trade deal with Colombia. They [...]

This was rumored yesterday, and now we know: the US has filed another complaint against China at the WTO, this one over Chinese tariffs on US chicken producers. The United States filed a complaint Tuesday with the World Trade Organization that says China violated international trade rules when it imposed tariffs last year on U.S. [...]

Jon Huntsman’s economic plan should dispel any rumors of his moderation. It eliminates the Earned Income Tax and the child tax credit to pay for a reduction of the top marginal tax rate to 23%. I don’t think I need to go any further. It’s a reverse-Robin Hood special. And he’s barely scraping past 1% [...]

In case you still had a shred of faith that the United States had a reasonably functional government capable of producing results for its people, let me walk you through the fate of three trade deals pending in Congress. Mind you, I’m not really a fan of the trade deals, which could cost America jobs [...]

Speaking of people saying different things at different venues, here’s Chuck Schumer yesterday at the Economic Policy Institute, demanding that Congress work to create jobs: In addition to it being the right thing to do economically, there will be political momentum for trying to do more on jobs. The American people realize that we not [...]

The White House will move forward on a trade agenda that could ramp up quickly. The South Korea, Panama and Colombia free trade deals could all come up for a vote later this year. The administration is expected to send congressional leaders a letter as soon as Wednesday saying it is ready to begin preliminary [...]

Labor unions are not happy with the “action plan” that is seen as a precursor to a free trade agreement with Colombia. Scores of labor organizers have been attacked and even killed in Colombia over the past several years. And the AFL-CIO and other unions simply find the deal insufficient. “The action plan does not [...]

President Obama’s trade representative announced today an agreement with Colombia that will allow them to move forward on a free trade agreement. House Republicans had been demanding free trade pacts with Colombia and Panama as a condition for passing an already-negotiated FTA with South Korea. The Colombia deal was always going to be tricky, because [...]

I touched on this in last night’s Roundup, but it’s really something. Republicans in the Senate are using the means at their disposal offered to them by the failure to enact Senate rules reform to hold a Cabinet position hostage in exchange for some ideologically favored trade agenda. Congressional Republicans Monday threatened to block votes [...]