Volume 73, Issue #4 | Winter 2013

The Sierra Club has worked on trade issues for nearly two decades, because "trade rules have a huge impact on environmental protections." In 1998, for example, the World Trade Organization ordered the U.S. to weaken Endangered Species Act protections for sea turtles being killed in shrimp-fishing nets.

Watch What You Eat: The TPP will threaten food safety because both countries and corporations will be able to challenge food standards, labeling programs, pesticide regulations and more.

Some members of Congress are trying to put the brakes on the TPP. In a series of letters to the White House, at least 194 members of Congress have publicly expressed their concerns about the secretive trade deal, bringing plans for a speedy ratification to a screeching halt.

American workers know that free trade means lost jobs. It happened under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiated 20 years ago. It happened under the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement negotiated last year. Overall, NAFTA resulted in a loss of nearly 700,000 jobs.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a massive, secret trade deal that?s being negotiated among 12 countries on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. Participating in the talks now are representatives from the U.S., Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Chile, Brunei, Singapore and Vietnam. Countries like the Philippines and South Korea also have indicated they want to join.