Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 5 • Number 18 • 15th May 2001

Bush Presents International Trade Agenda to US Congress

Discuss this articleShare your views with other visitors, and read what they have to say

US President George W. Bush last week presented his 2001 International Trade Legislative Agenda to the US Congress, which aims to end the seven-year stalemate over new trade negotiating authority. The agenda also makes some references to the longstanding disagreement over labour and environment issues, and calls on Congress to support a new round of global trade talks and regional free trade agreements.

Trade Promotion Authority still on top of agenda

The President’s Agenda sets out a conceptual framework for ‘trade promotion authority’ (TPA, formerly ‘fast-track’, i.e. trade agreements negotiated by the President that cannot be amended by the US Congress, but only supported or rejected), which remains at the top of Bush’s trade legislative agenda. TPA, according to the Agenda, would be necessary to pursue a new round of global trade liberalisation talks, a Free Trade of the Americas Agreement (FTAA) and other regional and bilateral free trade pacts. “Trade promotion authority tells the would that the President and the Congress are united at the negotiating table in seeking to strike the best possible deal for our country,” Bush said in a letter to Congressional leaders. The Agenda leaves open for negotiation with Congress how long TPA would be granted for. Congress has blocked approval of TPA since 1994 as a result of disagreements between Republicans and Democrats over whether labour and environmental protection provisions should be contained in trade agreements.

Labour and environment

The President’s document acknowledges that addressing trade-related labour and environmental concerns is an important part of the Agenda. To this end, it includes an illustrative “toolbox” of actions that the US can take in combination with trade negotiations to deal with these concerns, such as improving United Nations environmental programs, or discussions in the WTO’s trade policy reviews how countries could have their trade and environmental policies reinforce each other. The toolbox also suggests highlighting, if appropriate, a country’s policies that negatively affect the environment and distort trade and investment flows.

The Agenda stresses that encouraging adherence to core labour standards and mutually supportive trade and environmental protection policies should be carried out “in a manner consistent with US sovereignty and trade expansion.” No mention is made of using sanctions, fines or other measures to enforce labour or environmental safeguards. Republicans and most developing countries are opposed to the inclusion of these concerns in trade agreements, fearing that they will be used as instruments of trade protection and might result in the imposition of trade sanctions.

Support for future free trade talks

Bush reiterated his support for “a new round of global trade negotiations under the auspices of the WTO”, as well the FTAA. He also highlighted the need for other regional and bilateral trade negotiations to advance US interests, including free trade agreements with Chile and Singapore. He furthermore called on Congress to support the implementation of the US-Jordan FTA and the Vietnam and Laos Bilateral Trade Agreements, renew the Andean Trade Preference Act (TPA), enact the Southeast Europe TPA and re-authorise the General System of Preferences program for developing countries. “We have no time to waste in reasserting America’s leadership on trade,” Bush said in the letter to Congress. “We can no longer afford to sit still while our trade partners move ahead without us.”

Agenda criticised for lack of firm action

Environmental groups have called on the US administration to take firmer action. “The president has failed to clearly address the specific threats we face from trade rules that can override environmental laws,” said David Waskow, trade director at Friends of the Earth. Dan Seligman from Sierra Club also expressed his disappointment with the administration’s ‘tool box’. “Frankly I’m stunned at how weak they are. There is nothing in this tool box that addresses our concern that trade rules are hammering away at environmental protections,” he said. Citizens Trade Campaign, a broad- based coalition of US environmental, labour, family farm, consumer and religious organisations, released its own principles for future trade agreements, calling, inter alia, for global labour, environmental and other public interest standards to be strengthened to prevent a global race to the bottom.

The President’s Agenda is available online at: http://usinfo.state.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/latest&f=01051101.clt&t=/products/washfile/newsitems.html

“Bush sends Congress outline for trade legislation,” REUTERS, 10 May 2001; “Bush asks Congress for expanded trade negotiating authority,” AFP, 10 May 2001; “Bush acts on trade agenda,” FT, 11 May 2001; “new Principles for Future Trade Agreements,” CTC RELEASE, 10 May 2001; “Bush issues trade principles after wrangle with republicans,” INSIDE US TRADE, 11 May 2001.