Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 12 • Number 43 • 17th December 2008

US Trade Experts Offer Recommendations to Obama

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The United States should “recalibrate” its stance on trade, strengthen domestic social programmes, and take the lead in international trade negotiations, a group of 22 bipartisan trade policy experts wrote in a recent memo to US President-elect Barack Obama and the members of the next session of Congress.

Presenting “a new trade policy for the United States,” the experts called for “a new narrative” for explaining trade to the US public, a “comprehensive competitiveness agenda” to help the US benefit from economic engagement, and an adjustment policy to “cushion the inevitable downsides” associated with expanded trade.

Specifically, the group called on the president-elect to expand healthcare coverage, strengthen unemployment benefits, and increase training programmes to help US workers adjust to changing economic circumstances.

“The United States needs a new social contract in which our continued openness on international trade is supported by a much stronger and effective national program of safety nets and empowerment initiatives,” the group wrote in the memo, which was dated 25 November.

The experts called for renewed engagement and leadership in international trade talks, but tempered that recommendation with a warning that the new administration and the new Congress should “recalibrate” trade policy at all levels.

“You will need to reassess our approach to trade negotiations. The Doha Round is at an impasse and the results to date do not sufficiently address our commercial priorities or generate much change in the status quo,” the experts wrote.

But “failure in the Doha Round could cause irreparable harm to the WTO’s credibility, which would undermine its valuable dispute settlement mechanism and jeopardise our traditional interest in strong global economic institutions.”

“Any appearance of US rejection of Doha would undercut your goal of enhancing the global role and image of the United States,” the group wrote.

The group also stressed the importance of bilateral trade deals, especially in the event of a failure of the Doha Round.

“There is considerable interest in potential FTAs with the European Union and/or Japan, not only because of their potentially significant economic benefits but also because labour and environmental issues would be much less controversial than in FTAs with many other countries,” they wrote.

The memo, which was coordinated by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, was presented to the Obama transition team last week, group member Jeffrey Schott said.

The expert group included Grant Aldonas of Split Rock International, C. Fred Bergsten of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Claude Barfield of the American Enterprise Institute, Karan K. Bhatia of GE, Calman Cohen of the Emergency Committee for American Trade, I.M. Destler of the Peterson Institute, Calvin Dooley of the American Chemistry Council, Stuart E. Eizenstat of Covington and Burling, Bill Brenzel of the Brookings Institution, Al From of the Democratic Leadership Council, Edward Gresser of the Progressive Policy Institute, former USTR Carla A. Hills, Gary N. Horlick of Wilmer Hale, Gary C. Hufbauer of the Peterson Institute, William C. Lane of Caterpillar, R. Scott Miller of Proctor and Gamble, William Reinsch of the National Foreign Trade Council, Howard Rosen of the Trade Adjustmen Assistance Coalition, Jeffrey Schott of the Peterson Institute, Franklin Vargo of the National Association of Manufacturers, Alan Wm. Wolff of Dewey and Leboeuf, and Clayton Yeutter of Hogan and Hartson L.L.P.

ICTSD reporting.

One response to “US Trade Experts Offer Recommendations to Obama”

RRM 17th December 2008 at 20:00
It appears that you have a copy of the actual letter. Please publish it. Thank you.