WASHINGTON--Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.) June 21 introduced legislation that would establish a commission to review dispute settlement decisions taken by the World Trade Organization against the United States.
Cardin, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said that the commission was necessary because "unfounded interpretations" of international trade law have too often led to WTO decisions that have adversely impacted U.S. workers and industries.
"This review commission would raise the visibility of important WTO decisions that have profound effect on our economy," Cardin said. "I believe it also would reinvigorate congressional oversight of our trade policy."
The so-called WTO Dispute Settlement Review Commission would consist of five federal appellate judges who would review all approved WTO dispute settlement reports.
It would evaluate WTO rulings adverse to the United States based on four criteria--specifically, whether the WTO dispute settlement panel had exceeded its authority; added to the obligations or diminished the rights of the United States under the Uruguay Round multilateral trade agreement; acted arbitrarily, engaged in misconduct, or departed from established procedures; or deviated from the applicable standard of review, including antidumping cases, set forth in the Uruguay Round agreement under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
If the commission reported that the WTO had acted improperly, any member of Congress, under the Cardin bill, would be able to introduce a joint resolution calling on the president to negotiate new dispute settlement rules aimed at correcting the problem.
Any member would also be able to introduce a joint resolution calling for the United States to withdraw from the WTO if the commission handed down three determinations of improper rulings in any five-year period.
Earlier in the week of June 19, the House overwhelmingly defeated a resolution, in fact, that would have required the United States to end its membership in the organization.
The Cardin bill (H.R. 4706) would revive almost word-for-word a proposal made by Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kan.), who, with Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.), introduced legislation to create the commission in 1995, which was never enacted.
Dole on June 20 reiterated his support for the plan, saying in written testimony submitted to the Senate Finance Subcommittee on International Trade that it would help ease concern among the U.S. public over the possible threat that the WTO, created in 1995, poses to U.S. interests.
"I worry that Americans may lose faith in the WTO dispute settlement system if significant panel decisions seem to harm our interests," Dole said.
The Clinton administration, however, has said that establishing the WTO review commission is no longer necessary given that WTO dispute settlement panels have ruled overwhelmingly in favor of the United States since the organization's creation more than five years ago.
"We do not believe the review commission is necessary given our experience over the last five years," said Susan G. Esserman, deputy U.S. trade representative, testifying at a hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee on June 8.
By Gary G. Yerkey
Copyright c 2000 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington D.C.:
