Our Allies in Global Trade

Sure the Department of Labor has placed the Vietnamese textile industry on its list of those industries using child and forced labor. But why let that stop us from implementing the Trans Pacific Partnership! Meanwhile, the U.S. will do absolutely nothing to actually stop this from happening. And let’s be clear–it very well could. The new law closing the Smoot-Hawley Tariff slave labor loophole is just one of many examples of how the U.S. govenrment actually does control the conditions of labor overseas for products imported into the United States. It could do a lot to ensure that kids aren’t making our clothes, including punishing American companies who are relying on this labor. But they don’t do that. Instead, they press through trade agreements that could allow Nike to sue Vietnam for lost profits if that country banned child labor. Free trade is everyone’s friend!