One of the lesser known facts about free trade agreements (FTAs) between the United States and other nations is that they open the door for foreign corporations and manufacturers to bid on big government projects and services. A Transpacific Partnership Agreement (TPP)—an FTA with the U.S. and eight Pacific Rim nations that is being negotiated now—could throw those doors open even further.

Guatemalan workers received support from an unexpected quarter this week. A group of global clothing brands (including the Gap, Liz Claiborne, Nike, Under Armour, American Eagle, Adidas, PVH and PF) and an association to which they are affiliated with, the Fair Labor Association, wrote to the Government of Guatemala to urge it to move swiftly to reach a satisfactory resolution to a complaint filed four years ago by the AFL-CIO and six Guatemalan unions under DR-CAFTA (the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement). 

United Steelworkers (USW) President Leo Gerard says Colombia “continues its shameful distinction as the most dangerous country in the world to be a trade unionist.” He says that withholding implementation of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is the “surest form of leverage the U.S. has to safeguard the lives and well-being of unionists in Colombia.”

Gerard’s comments follow Sunday’s announcement by the White House that it will implement the FTA beginning May 15.

The announcement by the White House this afternoon that Colombia has successfully implemented key elements  of the Labor Action Plan and that the U.S.–Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will enter into force on May 15 "is deeply disappointing and troubling," says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

Citing “repeated and well-documented violations of workers' rights” that the Honduran government has “utterly failed to address,” the AFL-CIO and the major Honduran trade unions are asking the U.S. government to act under the terms of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA).

TPM Livewire reports that its sources close to the case say the U.S. Department of Commerce has determined the Chinese government illegally subsidized solar exports to the United States. In response, Commerce will impose import duties on Chinese companies sending solar materials to this country.

Over the past decade, as 5.7 million manufacturing jobs were vanishing, many prominent economists and policymakers said the job loss was inevitable. They reason, they said, wasn’t a lack of national manufacturing policy, growing incentives for U.S. firms to move jobs offshore or flawed trade policies. They pointed to increased productivity as the main culprit. A new report debunks that claim.

Yesterday, President Obama announced the United States, in cooperation with the European Union and Japan, will bring a trade case against China’s export restraints on so-called “rare-earth minerals,” which are a vital component in highly advanced products the United States manufactures—or wants to manufacture. The move is a step in the right direction to create more well-paying jobs for America’s workers.

A new agency, announced yesterday by President Obama, to crack down on unfair trade practices by countries such as China, is “a step in the right direction,” says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

A new paper by the Brookings Institute outlines why a healthy manufacturing sector is a vital component of the nation’s economy; what type of manufacturing industries matter the most and the key areas that needed to be strengthened to build high-wage and exportable products.