San Diego Union-Tribune | December 6, 2001 | By Donald Cohen
Today, Congress will vote to determine if the next generation of U.S. trade agreements supports American workers and communities.
Unfortunately, current proposals fail the basic test. President Bush is seeking "trade promotion authority," or "fast track" negotiating authority yet refuses to adopt worker and environmental concerns as central elements of our trade agreements.
So far the current proposals only pretend to address workers and public health by including unenforceable promises based upon nonexistent standards. At the same time, the administration seeks to strengthen protections for investors and inventors.
There are very good reasons to oppose granting fast-track trade negotiating authority to the president -- which guarantees an up or down vote without the possibility of compromise and consensus building.
Most Americans agree -- "fair" trade is an important part of our economy, but "free" trade without enforceable standards threatens inventors, investors, workers and the environment. Trade agreements are important, but the details do matter. Here are some facts.
First, almost 300 trade agreements made their way through congressional discussion and debate and were enacted into law during the last decade, without granting the president fast-track trading authority. And dozens of other nations that we trade with don't provide their negotiators with fast-track authority.
The rush to give the president this authority means that the president is not willing to work with our elected representatives to build consensus on essential elements of our trade policies. Under fast track, the only way a member of Congress can make sure that the voters in his or her district are helped and not harmed by trade agreements is to vote against the whole package. That stifling of debate and limiting our ability to craft workable compromise and consensus weakens our democracy.
Second, very few question the importance of protecting intellectual property rights or the rights of cross border investors. We should not allow other nations to violate international copyright standards; we should develop strong mechanisms to allow the software designer or the recording artist to protect their ideas or art. Those standards should be part of any trade agreement we enter into and they should be fully enforceable.
There is also a consensus that it is equally important to protect labor and environmental rights in our trade relations. We should not allow other nations to violate international labor, consumer and environmental standards, and we should develop equally strong mechanisms to allow workers and communities to compete on a level playing field. Our workers can't compete with nations that allow child labor, widespread toxic waste and repression of workers attempting to form unions.
Unfortunately, the administration believes that establishing labor and environmental rights is less important than investor or intellectual property rights. The administration proposal is to adopt unenforceable "side agreements" that give lip service to labor and environmental issues to feign concern, but fail in the crucible of real policy and trade. Fair and equitable trade agreements treat labor and environmental rights with the same importance as investor rights and intellectual property rights.
Third, there are many good reasons for Americans to be concerned about the details of our trading policy. For example, under the proposal that the administration currently supports, it would be easier for a foreign corporation to take legal action in the United States than it would be for American citizens. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, a Canadian-based manufacturer is suing the United States for almost $1 billion claiming that California's law to phase out the toxic gasoline additive, MTBE, represents an expropriation of expected profits.
The impact of these complex trade agreements will be felt for decades to come in every community across this country. Giving the president fast-track authority will rob the American people of the opportunity to a full debate and discussion about what's at stake for workers and communities in these trade deals.
The solution is very simple. We can create trade policy that works for everyone by signing agreements that include in the core text of the agreement -- on an equal basis -- enforceable labor rights, environmental rights and consumer rights as well as copyright protection, investor rights and other critical trading issues. The only way to show that we treat these issues seriously is to include them as chapters in any trading agreement, not phony side agreements.
Foreign trade and trade agreements that treat workers, communities and investors with real equity and fairness will lift our communities, support working families and build a healthy national economy. Our representatives in Congress and the president have the chance to do the same.
Cohen is political director of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council.
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