Daily Report For Executives
To address concerns for the labor aspects of trade policy-making, President Clinton is establishing a new labor office within the Office of the United States Trade Representative, White House Chief of Staff John Podesta said in a May 3 letter to Reps. Sander Levin (D-Mich.) and Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.).
"[T]o underscore the importance of trade and labor issues and to improve policy formation and coordination with respect to them, the president is directing the United States Trade Representative (USTR), contingent upon necessary appropriations, to create a new Office of Trade and Labor," Podesta wrote to the two Ways and Means Committee members.
In the letter, Podesta said that the office, headed by the newly-created position of Assistant USTR for Trade and Labor, would be responsible for "aspects of trade policy-making that involve core labor standards considerations."
Although the letter addressed labor and trade issues within the context of a House vote on the African and Caribbean Basin trade bill (H.R. 434), the move is seen as a way to help convince undecided members of Congress to vote in favor of granting permanent normal trade relations to China.
Levin has led the effort to pass parallel legislation that would create a commission to monitor China's human rights record and its compliance with trade agreements. The proposed commission would also recommend sanctions consistent with the World Trade Organization.
In a May 4 floor statement during the debate on H.R. 434, Levin cited the White House letter as an example of the administration's efforts to support the enforcement of core labor rights in the country's trading relationships.
Dan Maffei, spokesman for Ways and Means Committee Democrats, May 5 called it "a very good letter" because it showed a good degree of responsiveness on the administration's part to the "concerns of committee Democrats" regarding trade and labor issues.
Sweeney Says Proposals 'Toothless'
In an effort to stifle the effect of these labor and human rights monitoring proposals by Levin and the administration, AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney May 4 sent a letter to members of Congress reiterating the labor federation's stance that the proposals do not make the passage of PNTR for China any more agreeable to labor and human rights activists.
"[T]he China trade monitoring processes that are being proposed -- whether by Representative Levin or by President Clinton -- to accompany the granting of permanent Normal Trade Relations to China in no way compensate for the loss to the U.S. of economic leverage on China's behavior with regard to trade, human rights, labor rights or environmental protections," wrote Sweeney.
He called the proposals "toothless mechanisms" and "empty" gestures that duplicate existing government procedures.
In closing, Sweeney warned members: "You should not be lulled into believing that monitoring China's bad behavior is a real tool for bringing about change."
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