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.

Steve Smith

Leavenworth, WA

Steve worked for 14 years at the Longview Fibre saw mill, and helped organize the union there.  He lost his job when the plant closed in 2006 due to competition from subsidized imports under NAFTA.   

Hear part of Steve's story...

“I had always hoped that one of my sons could come to work at the sawmill. In America, big companies like that had jobs for people. And it's not just the wood industry; it's a lot of industries that we used to have.  Fathers, sons worked together. Generations of families worked for a company, and they were taken care of. 

"It's not like that anymore. That part of America is gone and that's what's missing. That's what we need to come back. A sustainable lifestyle, you know, a life-time job.

"It's hard right now.  There are no jobs.  There's just no manufacturing jobs for ordinary working-class people to go to.  Like the automotive industry on the East Coast.  Just regular, working-class people, that had decent jobs for so many years.  They're just not here anymore..."