This edition of the List adds four new goods and three new countries to the List. The List now includes a total of 134 goods from 74 countries. Given the current state of research on child labor and forced labor, the List - while as comprehensive as possible - includes only those goods for which ILAB is able to document that there is reason to believe that child or forced labor is used in their production. It is likely that many more goods are produced through these forms of labor abuse. This report is divided into four parts. In addition to DOL's mandate and the research purpose, Part 1 of this report describes the research focus, including the population of interest, definitions of child labor and forced labor, the sectors and types of employment, the stages of production and the ultimate consumption of the goods (export or domestic). Part 2 outlines the research methodology, including the criteria used to analyze data sources and make determinations regarding additions to or removals from the List. This section also discusses the role that governments, the private sector and workers and civil society can play in eliminating child labor and forced labor in the production of goods. Part 3 presents the results of this year's research and includes a brief analysis of trends observed since ILAB began producing the List in 2009. Part 4 places the results of the research in a broader context and concludes with a discussion about important efforts that are ongoing or are needed to advance efforts to eliminate child and forced labor in the production of goods.
Related:
- Press Release
- Bibliography
- Current Countries and Products (XLS)
- Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor
"The Betrayal of the American Dream" is the story of how people in power put in place policies that enriched themselves while cutting the ground out from underneath the middle class.
Related:
Phantom Jobs
Source: Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, Investigative Reporting Workshop, August 4, 2012
Leaked documents reveal disturbing truths about a trade deal Obama's negotiating that could grow bigger than NAFTA.
See also:
- TPP investment chapter
- Newly Leaked TPP Investment Chapter Contains Special Rights for Corporations
Source: Citizens Trade Campaign, June 13, 2012
- Public Interest Analysis of Leaked TPP Investment Text
Source: Lori Wallach and Todd Tucker, Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, June 13, 2012
- Gordon Campbell on the Trans-Pacific Partnership leaks
Source: Gordon Campbell, Scoop Media, June 14, 2012
- Professor Jane Kelsey on the TPP Investment Chapter
Source: Jane Kelsey, Scoop Media, June 14, 2012
The U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, or U.S. Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, as it is officially called, is a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) between the United States and Colombia, which will eventually eliminate tariffs and other barriers in bilateral trade in goods and services. The agreement will enter into force on May 15, 2012. ... Upon entry into force, the agreement will immediately eliminate duties on 80% of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial products to Colombia. Most remaining tariffs will be eliminated within 10 years of implementation.
The congressional debate surrounding the CFTA mostly centered on violence, labor, and human rights issues in Colombia. Numerous Members of Congress opposed passage of the agreement because of concerns about alleged violence against union members in Colombia, inadequate efforts to bring perpetrators to justice, and weak protection of worker rights. However, other Members of Congress supported the CFTA and took issue with these charges, stating that Colombia had made great progress over the last ten years to curb violence and enhance security. They also argued that U.S. exporters were losing market share of the Colombian market and that the agreement would open the Colombian market for U.S. goods and services. For Colombia, an FTA with the United States is part of its overall economic development strategy.
]]>This publication is the second update of the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor (List) by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) of the U.S. Department of Labor, pursuant to the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2005. ILAB published the initial List on September 10, 2009, and published an update on December 15, 2010.
ILAB examined 77 countries for the initial List in 2009, 39 additional countries for the 2010 update, and 60 countries, non-independent countries and territories for this year's update, completing an initial examination of most countries in the world. The 2011 update adds 2 new goods and 1 new country, for a total of 130 goods from 71 countries that ILAB believes are produced with child labor or forced labor. The countries on the List span every region of the world and are at different stages of development. More goods were found to be made with child labor than forced labor. By sector, agricultural crops comprise the largest category, followed by manufactured goods and mined or quarried goods. The most common agricultural goods listed are cotton, sugarcane, tobacco, coffee and cattle; the most common manufactured goods listed are bricks, garments, carpets and footwear; and the most common mined goods listed are gold, diamonds and coal. The 2011 report adds a new section describing the process by which goods may be removed from the List, based on ILAB's procedural guidelines.
- View the 2011 bibliography
- View Current Countries and Products (XLS)
From the press release:
Job growth for nearly all of the nation's metro areas will increase this year but not fast enough to force the unemployment rate below 8 percent, according to a report produced by IHS Global Insight as part of the US Conference of Mayors' US Metro Economy series.
The Report released today, forecasts job growth for all metro areas but mild to weak for many, and predicts that 22% of metro areas hardest hit by housing crisis will take five years to recover....
...The outlook for 2012 is better. By the end of this year, the report forecasts that almost every one of our 363 metro economies will see job gains and the nation will have gained back 48 percent of its lost jobs. But despite this progress, the recovery remains slow and uneven. For almost 80 of the nation's metro areas, it will take more than five years to get back to pre-recession levels of employment.
The report offers a glimpse into what middle-class families are going through in this economy: median real income for US households in 2010 was $49,455 - 7.1% lower than in 1999, when it was $53,252.
See also:
Key findings
Fair trade holds the promise of economic gains for the United States and our trading partners alike, but these gains do not come without a cost. Older workers and those without a college education are more vulnerable to the job losses that result from free trade - and these are precisely the same groups that face the most difficulties getting back on their feet in the current economy. While young people and college-educated workers may have the freedom and resources to move across the country in search of better opportunities, older Americans and those with less education often lack this mobility. The poor state of the housing market further constrains mobility, especially for those struggling to pay off their existing mortgages. Moreover, jobs are hard to come by for individuals without a college degree, and opportunities are likely to remain scarce in the years ahead, since most of the jobs expected to be created are in sectors that require education beyond high school. These effects combine to extend and exacerbate the stress on families and communities negatively impacted by free trade.
]]>From the summary:
According to witnesses who work at Classic Fashion, scores of young Sri Lankan women sewing clothing for Wal-Mart and Hanes have suffered routine sexual abuse and repeated rapes, and in some cases even torture....Classic, the largest garment export factory in Jordan, sews clothing for Wal-Mart, Hanes, Kohl's, Target and Macy's. The garments enter the U.S. duty-free under the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement....
Related:
Dirty Clothes: Nygard, Dillard's, J.C. Penney, Wal-Mart Linked to Human Trafficking and Abuse of Young Women in Jordan Sweatshop
Source: Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, April 2011
DOL today released three ILAB reports on child labor and/or forced labor in foreign countries, including the ninth annual Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, a report that provides information on the efforts of certain U.S. trade beneficiary countries to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. This year's report highlights the major findings related to each government's efforts and includes country-specific suggestions for government action to combat these problems. In addition, DOL released an update to ILAB's List of Goods Produced by Child or Forced Labor, which identifies 128 goods from 70 countries that ILAB has reason to believe are produced by forced labor, child labor or both, in violation of international standards. Finally, DOL released a proposed revision to the current List of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor pursuant to Executive Order 13126 of 1999, which includes 29 products from 21 countries. The proposed revision will be available for public comment beginning December 16th.
See also:
* Read the news release
* Read the Secretary's remarks
* View the slideshow
* View the webcast
* View the Child Labor Grant Table
* View the full reports:
- The Department of Labor's 2009 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor under the Trade and Development Act
- Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor
- Executive Order 13126 Initial Determination
* Read the Frequently Asked Questions
- ILAB Reports on International Child Labor and Forced Labor
- The Trade and Development Act
- Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005
- Executive Order 13126
* View the Reports Diagram
* Read about DOL's efforts to enforce child labor laws in the United States
Remember when American workers were promised that trade pacts based on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) model would boost exports and create millions of jobs in the United States?
]]>Here you can explore data resources that illustrate the impact of trade policy on jobs, the environment, and your community.
]]>The world economy is on the brink again, facing a crisis of epic dimensions for reasons largely obscured by the inflamed politics of 2010. Against their wishes, the United States and China have been drawn into an increasingly nasty and dangerous fight over currencies and trade. American politicians, especially desperate Democrats, have framed the conflict in familiar moral terms--a melodrama of America wronged--and demand retaliation. Other nations, sensing the risk of a larger breakdown, have begun to take protective measures. Every man for himself. The center is not holding.
]]>A new report from Public Citizen reveals that the growth of U.S. exports to nations with which the United States does not have Free Trade Agreements (FTA) has outpaced the growth of exports to the 17 U.S. FTA partners, with both services and goods FTA exports lagging. This comes as the corporate interests that dominate private sector representation on the President's Export Council, which meets Thursday, have reframed their support for more NAFTA-style trade pacts as critical to promoting the president's goal of doubling exports over the next five years to create two million new American jobs.
]]>From the summary:
Free trade areas (FTAs) are arrangements among two or more countries under which they agree to eliminate tariffs and nontariff barriers on trade in goods among themselves. However, each country maintains its own policies, including tariffs, on trade outside the region.
In the last few years, the United States has engaged or has proposed to engage in negotiations to establish bilateral and regional free trade arrangements with a number of trading partners. Such arrangements are not new in U.S. trade policy. The United States has had a free trade arrangement with Israel since 1985 and with Canada since 1989, which was expanded to include Mexico and became the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) effective in January 1994.