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.

Reid Saito

Nyssa, OR

Reid is a farmer, and president of the Malheur County Onion Growers Association.  

"Since NAFTA, the tariffs are slowly being removed from onion coming in from Canada and Mexico... Well, if you are a grower in Mexico, or an onion grower in Texas growing in Mexico, your cost of production is paying people $8 a day, and we're paying our people $8 an hour.  Just that factor alone, plus, they are not contending with the U.S. EPA's regulations or contending with many of our labor restrictions.

"When they talk about a level playing field and trade, there's the issue about safety that adds a lot to our costs of producing a safe crop.  Not only growers, but all the way through the supply chain.  Yet, you have the onions coming from countries that don't have to comply with that.  They are selling here.  How safe are those commodities?"