The Importance of Fair Trade
Fair trade promotes standards for international labor and laws to preserve the environment. Fair trade improves security of workers and economic self-sufficiency of nations. Fair trade organizations enforce laws on health, safety and wages of workers. Unregulated competition in today’s global economy leads to firms competing to produce the cheapest goods, because the most cheaply priced goods attract customers. Free trade allows companies to have more power than governments, which causes workers to be denied rights. Fair trade allows countries to specialize by having comparative advantages when trading goods. Fair trade would level the global playing field than free trade does; workers with higher wages would help the development of a middle class in poorer nations. Fair trade would also improve the situation of the U.S. because our advantages in producing certain goods would allow us increase exports and decrease our trade deficit.
Fair trade sales today account for 400 million dollars per year out of a total of 3.6 trillion dollars, which is only .01% of all global sales! This is because products produced by fair trade cost more. A consumer comparing the prices of a good isn’t likely to think about whether the worker that made the product was able to eat dinner that night, or whether the worker’s home was made of scrap metal and cardboard. The consumer will simply look to have a few more dollars in their wallet after their purchase. The real problem is that the consumer shouldn’t have to make this choice. It is the job of the government to encourage the development of the economies and middle classes in developing nations. If our government were to implement international trade standards to protect workers, consumers would only have the option of supporting humanity in the rest of the world and the productivity of our economy.
