Key Trade Issues
Talking Points on Trade Policy
Suggested Reading on Globalization and Trade
Trade and War -
Economic and military systems are closely linked. Focusing on Colombia as a case study, AFSC's Trade and War campaign carefully explores this connection. The Colombian government prioritizes private investment, contending that investment guarantees security for its people. In reality, some types of private investment lead to militarization and actually escalate domestic conflict and insecurity. Moreover, the policies that encourage private investment are often carried out at the expense of social investment. 
Trade and Migration-
There are many push factors that force and pull factors that entice people to leave their home, community and culture to migrate to foreign lands. Push factors include persecution, conflict, natural disasters and economic hardship. Pull factors include desire for religious and political freedom, tolerance, family unification, and economic opportunity. With a growing gap between the rich and poor and the cost of essential goods increasing in most developing countries, generalized economic growth statistics fail to reflect the hardships of the poor. The plight worsens when countries enter into unjust trade agreements with the U.S.
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Trade, Democracy and Public Goods- Public Goods are things such as water services, education, and roads that society recognizes as necessary and beneficial to all. The way international trade agreements are structured often results in prioritizing private, for profit, interests ahead of the need to create universal accessibility to these necessities.
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Trade and Worker Rights- The global race to the bottom, sped up by free trade agreements, has been a significant factor in the decline of United States manufacturing, the stagnation of job quality throughout the industrial world, and the spread of sweatshop labor in developing nations.
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Fair Trade Alternatives- There are ways to promote economic integration that respect local priorities, recognize asymmetries between countries, and support a socially responsible approach to economic and environmental sustainability.
Other Trade Related Issues
Putting Dignity and Rights at the Heart of the Global Economy- A Quaker Perspective
Trading Their Way Out of Debt - Debt and Trade: Making Links to Break the Chains of Debt by Jessica Walker Beaumont from AFSC and Aldo Caliari from the Center of Concern, 2004 (pdf) en español
Nicaragua: Debt Relief/HIPC vs Poverty by Nestor Avendaño (PDF, 2.5 Mb) en español
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