PORTLAND, Maine - A small group of protesters joined the Maine Fair Trade Campaign, 350Maine, and Food and Water Watch this morning in Portland to protest the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement - or TPP.
The TPP would lower trade barriers among 12 countries, including the U.S.
Proponents say it will grow the economies of member countries, and improve environmental and labor standards. Opponents say it would hurt labor standards, consumers and the environment, and workers in Maine and the U.S.
Cynthia Finney is with the Maine Fair Trade Campaign. She says the circumstances TPP would bring about are familiar to Mainers.
"For the first time in 100 years, we're facing a situation of no paper being made on the Penobscot [River]; that paper is being made in places where the wages are lower, and the environmental standards are lower," Finney said. "This is not a win for Maine, or for the world."
Speakers said the TPP could hurt Maine fisheries, and agriculture as well as manufacturing.
The rally was part of a national day of action against the TPP, which member nations signed today after seven years of negotiation.
