For too long, debates over international trade have been dominated by corporate elites and economic idealogues, 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.
Joy Guiterrez
Hermiston, OR
Joy worked at the J.R. Simplot potato processing plant for nearly 27 years before it moved abroad under NAFTA.
“The closure is really going to hurt the school system because [the plant] put in a lot of money in taxes and stuff. The school systems here are already hurting. They paid like $800,000 a quarter on taxes, so that’s a lot of money that’s been taken out of the area. …
“Without us—without the little people—this country wouldn’t have nothing. It is us that make the country run, and we should have a say in it.”