For too long, debates over international trade have been dominated by corporate elites and economic ideologues, rather than rooted in the experiences of ordinary Americans. 

The Trade Stories Project allows people who have been affected by policies and institutions like NAFTA and the WTO to share their views on a matter crucial to the global economy. 

This includes displaced workers, farmers, small business owners and immigrants who have been typically excluded from the trade debate.

Bruce Bostick

Columbus, OH

When Lorain Works steel company in Lorain, Ohio re-organized through bankruptcy, many long-time employees at or near retirement had a signficant portion of their pensions taken from them.

“It's pretty damn hard to exist when you don't have money to spend... It's extremely difficult.  I can't get my truck serviced.  I don't have healthcare and that's terrifying... It's just hard to function...

"I saw five suicides when I was working.  It's just very, very hard to see the entire structure of the community, of friends and people you knew and respect, people who have struggled their whole lives, just wiped out.”