Deborah is the director of international programs at CEPR. She has over 25 years of expertise working on issues of trade and democratic global governance. At CEPR, her work focuses on the International Monetary Fund and US policy toward Latin America.
For the last 18 years, Deborah facilitated the global Our World Is Not for Sale (OWINFS) network that successfully stopped the expansion of the World Trade Organization (WTO). She is a world-renowned expert on the potential impacts of the WTO’s proposed Doha Round on workers, farmers, and communities and digital trade and regularly briefs governments and civil society around the world. She co-led the global campaign to defeat the proposed Trade in Services Agreement.
Previous to CEPR, she was the director of the WTO Program of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch. She was also the global economy director of Global Exchange where she did similar work around the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas and started the first Fair Trade coffee campaigns.
Deborah has written numerous articles and makes regular media appearances in English and Spanish and has appeared on CNN en Español, Voice of America, CNN International, and the O’Reilly Factor, among other news outlets. She graduated cum laude in psychology and women’s studies from the University of California at San Diego and holds a Masters in International Policy and Planning from the George Washington University.
All from Deborah James
South Needs Data Digitalization Policies, Say CSO Experts
Deborah JamesSouth-North Development Monitor, April 16, 2019
Global Civil Society Urges WTO Members to Abandon Digital Trade Talks
Deborah JamesCommon Dreams, April 3, 2019
An Overview of the 11th Ministerial Conference of the WTO
Deborah JamesALAI, April 25, 2018
E-commerce and the World Trade Organization
Deborah JamesAmérica Latina en Movimiento, October/November 2017
State of Play in the WTO Toward the 11th Ministerial in Argentina
Deborah JamesHuffPost, June 26, 2017
Confronting Trump’s Trade Agenda from the Left
Deborah JamesNACLA Report on the Americas, June 7, 2017
Twelve Reasons to Oppose Rules on Digital Commerce in the WTO
Deborah JamesHuffPost, May 12, 2017
Over Intransigence of Rich Countries, Developing Countries Win Mandate on Trade for Development
Deborah JamesThe Huffington Post, July 22, 2016
Attempted Hijacking: Trade for Development!
Deborah JamesThe Huffington Post, July 18, 2016
The Leaks Go On: Before Another Secret Round of Negotiations on the Proposed “Trade in Services Agreement (TISA),” WikiLeaks Releases Even More New Hidden Documents
Deborah JamesThe Huffington Post, May 26, 2016