Ways and Means Leaders Tell Froman They Want TPP Path Forward
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman met with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Dave Reichert, R-Wash., on Sept. 27, to discuss moving the Trans-Pacific Partnership forward in Congress, the full committee announced (here). Brady in a statement said he wants to find a path forward for the deal in Congress, but lamented potential final outcomes if the Obama administration fails to address Congress members’ remaining concerns. “The White House must quickly address existing concerns of members who serve both on and off our committee,” Brady said. “Without these substantive changes, the House will not have the votes to approve TPP, and American workers will continue to lose customers to other countries. The clock is ticking, and the White House must act soon.”
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During the meeting, lawmakers told Froman “how high-quality trade agreements empower U.S. exporters to compete on the world stage and give farmers, workers, and businesses in our districts new opportunities,” but some members also raised “substantive concerns” about the deal, Reichert said in a statement. He vowed to continue conversations with the USTR, saying U.S. global leadership depends on a path forward for TPP, which rests on the administration’s willingness to address lawmakers’ concerns, Reichert said.
Speaking during a Council on Foreign Relations event on trade, Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sandy Levin, D-Mich., didn’t comment on whether he thought Republican House leadership would bring up TPP implementation legislation for a lame-duck vote, but said it would be a mistake and that he thinks it would fail. He said he wouldn’t espouse any congressional move to withdraw Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) privileges from the president, but that the next presidency should take a “fresh look” at trade. The next trade approach should explore the level of helpfulness to Americans of investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms, incorporate more congressional hearings on trade agreements, and comprehensively study deals’ potential impacts on income inequality, Levin said.
To remedy U.S. labor problems engendered by dumping and overseas subsidies, the U.S. will need to look beyond antidumping and countervailing duties, Levin said, noting “a flood” of cases in the queue for World Trade Organization consideration. He said Trade Adjustment Assistance shouldn’t be looked to as a replacement for sound trade policy that protects workers. “I think there’s been an improvement in enforcement, except it isn’t nearly enough,” Levin said, citing ongoing illicit timber trade practices by Peru and some Malaysian workers who he said make 80 cents per hour. He said the language encouraging sound labor and trade practices in trade agreements must translate to reality, noting that he voted against TPA in 2015 because he thought the stated objectives were so “mushy” that they don't mean much, “and it’s turned out that’s true.”