[New Orleans Slim]

As an attorney I've >>DONE<< NAFTA chapter 11 arbitrations thank you very much. (OK, the senior partner argues these, but I've done a lot of work on these.)

There is no loss of "sovereignty" involved in NAFTA. Yes, the US agrees to abide by NAFTA arbitration as a condition for being a member. Much like, if you have a credit card, the contract most likely states that as a condition for using the card you have to waive your right to sue over disputes with the credit card company. Instead, you agree to binding arbitration to settle disputes. Don't like it? Get rid of your credit card. Nobody is forcing you to have one.

Same thing with NAFTA - no country is going to agree to a free market area if there is no supra-national forum to settle disputes. If the US (or Canada or Mexico) doesn't like it, then they leave NAFTA and forgo the benefit of the free market. Submission to NAFTA arbitration is voluntary.

Moreover, we reap a lot of benefit from NAFTA arbitration. NAFTA chapter 11 has allowed many US corporations to knock down bogus environmental and labor protections in Canada and Mexico. These protections, nominally for the environment and labor, really functioned as an ersatz tarriff blocking US competition. You see, everybody wins under NAFTA - that's why neither Canada, Mexico, nor the US has left.

Don't let lefties fill your head with paranoid rhetoric about "one world government" and loss of "sovereignty". This sort of garbage is spewed by marketplace losers that can't compete.

If your job is about to go to Mexico, I recommend offering to take a pay and benefits cut. Lots of employers are more than willing to stay in the US if they can contain labor costs. In fact, when you factor in sunk capital, higher education levels in the US, and various hassles that result in dealing with another nation, you will still be able to command a higher wage than your Mexican counterpart. Yes, I know a pay cut sucks, but that's the market.

[hedgetrimmer]

no country is going to agree to a free market area if there is no supra-national forum to settle disputes

That sir is loss of sovereignty. US citizens did not vote on allowing a supranation agency to manage our trade. Many congressmen who voted for NAFTA apparently never read it or deny knowing what it would do. A few multinational businesses are benefitting from NAFTA, especially those with capital to invest in foreign markets which are insured by the US government (a subsidy btw which flies in the face of the idea of "free market").

We have had our food security impaired because under NAFTA rejection of low standard or contaminated produce can be considered a trade violation, where before NAFTA it was only a health and safety issue.

Since your livelihood depends on NAFTA arbitrations, its hard to believe that you might consider that other Americans have a completely different viewpoint of the legality and Constitutionality of NAFTA, and do not want it continued. Please don't tell me to lower my salary or get a different job. That is not the topic here.