TRADE Act Re-Introduced in House (Includes Review of Trade Pacts, Etc.)
On June 24, 2009, Representative Michaud and 105 cosponsors introduced H.R. 3012, the Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment (TRADE) Act. This bill would mandate trade pact reviews, establish standards, protect workers, and help restore congressional oversight of future trade agreements.
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According to a summary from Representative Michaud, the TRADE Act would:
Major trade pact review. The TRADE Act would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a comprehensive review of the major trade pacts that comprise the model on which U.S. trade agreement have been based, such as NAFTA, WTO, and CAFTA. The review, which would have to be completed before new trade negotiations or congressional consideration of pending pacts, includes an assessment of economic outcomes in the U.S. and abroad and various security, human rights, social and environmental indicators. The GAO would also be required to report on how the current pacts measure up to the bill's criteria with respect to what must and must not be included in trade pacts.
Environment, labor, safety must be included. The TRADE Act would provide a detailed description of the key provisions that must be included in all future U.S. trade agreements and what aspects of the current model must never again be replicated.
It would set forth the environmental and labor, food and product safety, agriculture, trade remedy, human rights, federalism safeguard and currency anti-manipulation rules and national security exceptions that must be included in all U.S. trade pacts. It would also list what aspects of the NAFTA-WTO model cannot be included in future deals, including bans on Buy American and anti-sweat shop or environmental procurement policies; new rights and privileges for foreign investors to promote offshoring and expose domestic health and environmental laws to attacks in foreign tribunals; service sector privatization and deregulation requirements; etc.
Renegotiation of gaps in current trade pacts. The TRADE Act would require the President to submit a plan to address through renegotiation the gaps identified between our current major pacts and the criteria for what must and must not be included in U.S. trade agreements. It would establish a special congressional super committee chaired by the Ways and Means and Finance Committee chairs to work with the President on formulating this plan.
Replacing Fast Track negotiation process. The TRADE Act would lay out criteria for a new mechanism to replace the Fast Track negotiating process. This new process would include Congress setting readiness criteria to select future negotiating partners; mandatory negotiating objectives based on the bill's criteria of what must be and must not be in future trade pacts; and the requirements that Congress must certify that the objectives were met, and then vote on an agreement before it can be signed.
Senator Could Introduce TRADE Act in Senate
In April 2009, Senator Brown opined that Congress should enact the Trade Reform, Accountability, Development, and Employment (TRADE) Act that he introduced during the 110th Congress and plans to reintroduce.
(In 2008, the TRADE Act was introduced in both the House and Senate, but was not enacted.)
(See ITT's Online Archives or 06/17/08 news, 08061705, for BP summary of the 2008 TRADE Act, introduced in the House and Senate.)
Rep. Michaud's press release available at http://www.michaud.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=711&Itemid=76