NETWORK Trade Agenda for 110th Congress
January 10, 2008
To NETWORK activists, it may seem that NETWORK’s trade agenda during the first session of the 110th Congress was narrowly focused on defeating the Peru Trade Agreement and denying the president the renewal of Trade Promotion Authority when it expired in July. Toward those ends, NETWORK members sent thousand of letters to Congress addressing these issues, and we are grateful.
In addition to these important issues, however, NETWORK’s trade work was more comprehensive. That work was a response to the electorate’s voice in the 2006 mid-term elections. Analysis of how people chose new Members of Congress in the 2006 mid-term elections showed a desire for comprehensive change in U.S. trade policy. The election of seven senators and thirty representatives was the result of the voters’ assessment of their trade platforms. Voters overwhelmingly chose those who were committed to a “fair trade” position in those races. Chris Slevin, currently Trade Staff Director for Senator Sherrod Brown, (D-OH), defined a fair trade position as one that “supports strong and enforceable labor and environmental standards in the core text of trade agreements, opposes harmful and protectionist pharmaceutical patent rules, and replaces ‘fast track’ with another more democratic alternative.”
As these new legislators assumed their offices in the first session of the 110 th Congress, they called for the development of a new trade policy for the United States. NETWORK, in alliance of The Interfaith Working group on Trade and Investment, supported this position. Legislators challenged 1993 NAFTA/WTO-cloned trade policies, convinced that they had robbed their constituents of well-paying jobs and outsourced businesses to other countries. They saw certain provisions of these trade and investment policies as detrimental to our trading partners as well. From that perspective, they were especially critical of the absence of strong labor provisions and environmental safeguards; of barriers to access to generic drugs; and of the devastating effects of U.S. farm subsidy policies on the ability of farmers in developing countries to compete with our “dumping” of cheaper crops.
This was especially demonstrated in Mexico, where Mexican imports of U.S. corn rose from less than one million metric tons in 1993 to 9.9 million metric tons in 2006-07 according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. During this time, U.S. farm exports to Mexico dislodged some two million Mexican farmers, with thousands losing their farms and migrating to the United States to seek work.
Consequently, NETWORK supported the efforts of those Members of Congress to set aside the four trade agreements with Peru, Panama, Colombia and South Korea that were negotiated by the administration.
Toward that end, early in the session, NETWORK in partnership with the Interfaith Working Group on Trade and Investment held an all day briefing, “Rethinking U.S. Trade Policy for the Common Good,” hosted by Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) and Walter Jones (R-NC). The forum examined trade policy from the experience of U.S. farmers and trade experts, as well as from our brothers and sisters from developing countries- Bolivia, Southern Africa, Kenya, and Mexico. Our trade policies were evaluated and recommendations made.
Despite these efforts, the Peru Trade Agreement, a pact detrimental to Peruvian farmers and with investment provisions privatizing services such as water, healthcare, education was passed in the House on November 8 by a vote of 285-132. Most notable was the split among the House Democrats with 109 in favor and 132 against, these 132 including the new legislators elected in 2006 on the basis of trade. This margin showed that while leadership had made some positive changes in trade policy provisions, it had failed to engage the broad spectrum of Congress, especially those elected on the basis of their trade positions- in a comprehensive overhaul of U.S. trade policy. Thus trade work in the first session of the 110 th Congress concluded with the passage of the Peru FTA. The Senate sealed the pact on December 4 by a vote of 77-18. Awaiting the second session are the Colombia, Panama and South Korean agreements negotiated under the president’s Trade Promotion Authority, which subsequently expired in July.
Meanwhile, many organizations that address trade issues will continue to petition for a comprehensive revamping of U.S. trade policy. Aligned with that movement is the introduction toward the end of the session of The NAFTA Accountability Act (H.R. 4329) by Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH). This legislation is designed “to assess the impact of NAFTA; to require further negotiation of certain provisions of NAFTA; and to provide for the withdrawal from NAFTA unless certain conditions are met to address the problems of NAFTA as a basis for U.S. trade agreements.” Hopefully, this legislation will progress in the second session of the 110 th Congress.
