Ways and Means members: Don’t cut programs that protect American workers, trade

WASHINGTON – Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Linda T. Sánchez (D-Calif.) and 13 of her committee Democratic colleagues today called on Labor Secretary Chavez-DeRemerto and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to reinstate recently canceled international labor programs that are critical to protecting American workers and defending U.S. trade.

The members also called on the administration to block any attempts by Elon Musk and DOGE to cut the Department of Labor’s International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) staff and the programs they administer.

“American trade policy relies on critical federal programs working overseas to challenge unfair competition from governments that commit egregious abuses in global supply chains,” the members wrote. “By eliminating these and other technical assistance projects, the Administration is surrendering an essential tool for leveling the playing field and holding our trade partners accountable. As Members of the Ways and Means Committee, with constitutional authority to oversee American trade policymaking, we strongly urge you to immediately reinstate canceled international labor programs in trade partner countries and fully fund ILAB to carry out its vital mission.

In addition to Sánchez, the letter was signed by Representatives John B. Larson (D-Conn.), Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.), Brendan F. Boyle (D-Pa.), Donald Beyer (D-Va.), Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) and Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.).

Full text of the letter is available here and follows:

March 21, 2025

Secretary Chavez-DeRemer
Secretary
Department of Labor
200 Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20210

The Honorable Jamieson Greer
Ambassador
United States Trade Representative
600 17th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20508

Dear Secretary Chavez-DeRemer and Ambassador Greer:

As Members of the House Ways and Means Committee, we urge you to reinstate recently canceled international labor programs that are critical to protecting American workers and defending U.S. trade, and to also protect the U.S. Department of Labor’s International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) staff and the programs they administer from further cuts. ILAB and its programs work to ensure that U.S. trade policy does not result in the outsourcing of good-paying American jobs to countries with lax labor protections. Our committee has consistently supported funding ILAB to ensure U.S. trade agreements and policies are enforced because American workers and businesses should never have to compete with goods subsidized by unfair trade practices, including forced labor and child labor. 

ILAB’s projects around the globe are key to achieving a level playing field for American workers and ensuring that American consumers are not complicit in buying products tainted by forced or child labor overseas. For example, a recently canceled ILAB project in Uzbekistan, supported by a broad coalition of American apparel companies, has been instrumental in eliminating the systemic use of forced and child labor in the Uzbek cotton sector. Just last year, in one of dozens of such findings, ILAB raised awareness of the use of forced labor in Indonesian nickel mines, which have flooded the global market, placing domestic producers at a significant disadvantage. ILAB also works to address China’s efforts to profit from slave labor, playing a leading role in the U.S. government’s Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force that works with Customs and Border Protection to enforce the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. 

As we begin the six-year review under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), we do so with an acute awareness that ILAB provides essential support to USTR to enforce the rules of the USMCA, including through dozens of cases brought under the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism, ensuring that companies in Mexico can’t undercut American jobs and manufacturers by skirting the USMCA’s labor requirements. As the eyes and ears of the U.S. Department of Labor abroad, ILAB is the lynchpin in our efforts to ensure that Mexico and other trading partners are playing by the rules. 

American trade policy relies on critical federal programs working overseas to challenge unfair competition from governments that commit egregious abuses in global supply chains. By eliminating these and other technical assistance projects, the Administration is surrendering an essential tool for leveling the playing field and holding our trade partners accountable. As Members of the Ways and Means Committee, with constitutional authority to oversee American trade policymaking, we strongly urge you to immediately reinstate canceled international labor programs in trade partner countries and fully fund ILAB to carry out its vital mission.

Sincerely,

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