AFL-CIO Chief Calls on Congress to Reject TPA, Improve US Trade Model
The U.S. labor movement does not oppose trade in a wide range of circumstances, but Congress should rally to defeat Trade Promotion Authority to prevent the U.S. from entering into the costly free trade agreements the Obama administration is currently negotiating, said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in an April 21 Senate Finance Committee hearing on trade. The AFL-CIO has previously supported the U.S.-Jordan free trade agreement, the African Growth and Opportunity Act and the Generalized System of Preferences, Trumka said, in defense of his support for sound trade policy.
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Lawmakers over recent days have introduced Trade Promotion Authority, Trade Adjustment Assistance, Customs Reauthorization and a preference package that includes AGOA, GSP and preferences for Haiti. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, will mark up all four bills on April 22.
Trumka didn’t chime in specifically on the current iterations of AGOA and GSP renewal. House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Sandy Levin, D-Mich., jumped on board that legislation, introduced in the House on April 17, alongside Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and other lawmakers. Levin opposes TPA and is a harsh critic of the U.S. trade agenda. All four bills are, however, expected to progress together through the legislative process.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is not the only option on the table to expand U.S. trade with the Asia-Pacific region, said Trumka in the hearing. “This isn’t a choice between TPP and no trade," he said. “There’s a lot of distance between [those two outcomes]. What we’re saying is ‘let’s have a trade agreement that really benefits people.’” Trumka said TPA won’t allow congressional objectives to impact TPP proposals, considering the pact is nearing conclusion. Congress should be allowed to approve negotiating partners before the executive branch enters into FTAs and slow the legislative process for implementation bills, among other improvements to the bill, said Trumka. The new TPA bill does strengthen Congress’ ability to shelve expedited procedures for FTA implementation bills (see 1504170024).
The American labor movement, with the AFL-CIO, has aggressively hit back for months and years against the U.S. proposals for TPP, and labor also consistently opposes TPA. “We’ve been working for five years to try to make TPP an agreement that American workers could benefit from,” said Trumka. “TPP could very well be the last trade agreement we negotiate. So it’s especially critical we get this one right.” The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative says TPP will remain open to accession for future partners, such as South Korea and China (see 14092404).
The U.S. needs to ensure U.S. FTAs include strong labor provisions, said Trumka. The AFL-CIO has repeatedly tore into ongoing labor conditions in countries that the U.S. shares FTAs with. Labor abuses continue in countries such as Colombia, despite implementation of an FTA with that country in 2012, said the AFL-CIO (see 1504080018).
Trumka argued Hatch is moving forward on trade legislation too quickly. Hatch will mark up the bills only six days after introducing TPA. Hatch responded in his opening statement that "this is a well-covered territory for this committee," and “any arguments that we’ve been less than forthcoming … are nonsense.” Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue, the second witness at the hearing, pushed Congress to quickly pass TPA in order to lock down TPP and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. U.S. exporters need to access the 95 percent of global consumers that live outside the U.S. and the U.S. is currently engaged in FTAs that only cover 6 percent of the world’s population, he said.