Moyers Takes on NAFTA Provision
Welcome to the other Chapter 11.
It’s not the Enron variety, but an obscure provision of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, that comes under fire in “Bill Moyers Reports: Trading Democracy” (10 p.m., KCET).
Chapter 11 is a clause in the 555-page trade accord among the United States, Mexico and Canada that gives companies the right to sue foreign governments when laws, or even jury verdicts, threaten profits. Because these cases are decided by secret tribunals, opponents call the system “a private court for capital.”
In one case, a U.S. company was awarded $16 million when Mexican officials stopped it from reopening a toxic dump. In another, a Canadian firm is seeking nearly $1 billion because of a California ban on the gasoline additive MTBE.
Chapter 11 supposedly was written to protect investors from property seizures, Moyers says, but corporations have stretched the phrase “tantamount to expropriation” to pull what one irate attorney calls “an end run around the Constitution.” Not only could Chapter 11 cost taxpayers billions, opponents say, but it has a chilling effect on lawmakers considering any move that might crimp profits.
Moyers seems far from objective--even the title suggests where he stands. Some of the cases he cites dismissively, such as a claim by UPS against Canada over its subsidized delivery service, would seem to have at least a semblance of merit on fair trade grounds.
But he makes a potent argument.
Even one U.S. trade official Moyers interviews inadvertently helps indict Chapter 11. It’s a classic “60 Minutes” moment: Charles “Chip” Roh twists in his chair while trying to explain why the provision isn’t as bad as it sounds, then acknowledges with a chuckle that his “body English” doesn’t look good.
