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Board urges Congress to oppose fast-tracking TPP, joins growing list of cities
Summary
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a resolution urging the city's congressional delegation to oppose Trade Promotion Authority and the Trans‑Pacific Partnership on grounds it would prioritize corporate investor rights over public interest protections for health, labor and the environment.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on April 21 adopted a resolution urging the city's congressional representatives to oppose trade promotion authority (TPA) for the Trans‑Pacific Partnership (TPP) and expressing concern about leaked draft elements of the agreement.
Supervisor John Avalos led the resolution, which the board amended on the floor to incorporate language from public‑interest groups and labor representatives. Avalos said the city must speak out against a trade model that he and supporters said would prioritize corporate protections and investor-state dispute mechanisms over public policies for labor, health and the environment.
Public witnesses supporting the resolution included representatives from the San Francisco Labor Council, Food & Water Watch, Citizens Trade Campaign, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Policy Analysis on Trade and Health (CPATH). Speakers cited risks that the TPP could enable transnational corporations to challenge local and national public-interest regulations in private investor‑state tribunals and weaken protections for food safety, public health, privacy and labor standards.
Supervisor Eric Mar praised language from CPATH integrated into the final text and thanked labor and public‑interest partners for building a coalition. The motion to adopt the resolution as amended passed without objection; the board recorded unanimous support.
Context: The board noted similar resolutions from other cities and argued the TPP process—negotiated in secret with heavy corporate advisory participation—would undercut democratic checks and could expose local policy decisions to challenge under investor‑state dispute provisions.
Next steps: The board transmitted its resolution to the city's congressional delegation and reiterated support for trade policies that protect workers, public health and the environment.
