When President Obama came to the UK on a state visit in May, Traidcraft was there every step of the way to call on him to nip unfair cotton subsidies in the bud.
We protested outside of the Foreign Office with the Fairtrade Foundation, calling on William Hague to raise the issue of damaging US cotton subsidies with President Obama (check out the video here). And hundreds of our campaigners sent their own messages to the Foreign Secretary too.
As Obama addressed the Houses of Parliament, Traidcraft was there with our eye-catching balloons calling for him to play fair on cotton.
We got the cotton justice message across in the press with high profile adverts in the Guardian and the New Statesman.
And The Financial Times published a joint letter from our Chief Executive, Paul Chandler, and the President of the African Cotton Producers, Moussa Sabaly.
Baroness Glenys Kinnock, an expert in trade and development, also drew attention to the US’s $24 billion subsidies with her article on the Guardian website.
All this is just the beginning. In the lead up to the next round of talks at the World Trade Organisation at the end of this year, Traidcraft will be keeping up the pressure on the US to put an end to its illegal and unfair cotton subsidies.
