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Missing in Trade Debate

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MANUEL PÉREZ-ROCHA, manuel at ips-dc.org, @ManuelPerezIPS Pérez-Rocha is associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. He was just quoted extensively in “Here’s What You Need to Know about Trump’s Trade War” in Fortune magazine.

He recently wrote the piece “Five Reasons Mexican Workers Would Cheer the Demise of NAFTA” for In These Times magazine, which states: “Mexicans have plenty not to like about Donald Trump: his racism, his wall, his tirades against immigrants. But if there’s a disruption provoked by Trump we should actually embrace, it’s the renegotiation of NAFTA — or even the trade pact’s possible end.

“Along with Mexico’s upcoming presidential elections on July 1 — in which center-left candidate Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador (AMLO, as he is popularly known) is the clear front runner — the possible unraveling of NAFTA has the country’s business elite and political establishment freaking out. … During its 24 years, NAFTA has helped to widen inequalities in Mexico, Canada and the United States alike — and to play workers in the three countries against each other.”

Pérez-Rocha’s five reasons: “1. NAFTA has been a net job destroyer in Mexico. … 2. Multinational companies have used NAFTA to devastate Mexico’s environment. … 3. NAFTA has destroyed the livelihoods of millions in the Mexican countryside. … 4. Corporations are using NAFTA to roll back legitimate government measures aimed at protecting health and the environment. … 5. NAFTA made Mexico the most obese country in Latin America.”