Democrats Press Trade Concerns on Froman During Finance Hearing
Finance Committee Democrats renewed their skepticism over Trade Promotion Authority and the Trans-Pacific Partnership to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman during a hearing on Jan. 27. Some Democrats lashed out at Froman and Republican trade supporters for moving forward with a trade agenda that is poised, they said, to repeat the free trade agreement mistakes of the past, notably job losses incurred through the North American Free Trade Agreement and the South Korea FTA.
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Some say TPP threatens to further degrade U.S. competitiveness globally by omitting currency manipulation in the deal and failing to address cheap labor in TPP economies. Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Debbie Stabenow said currency rules remain a critical priority for U.S. FTAs. “Japan and other countries that are part of TPP distort their currency their currency exchange rates to push up their trading surpluses,” said Schumer. “[Currency] has very real consequences for jobs in the middle class.”
Finance ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., along with Schumer, pushed Froman to ramp up U.S. enforcement in its FTAs. “There has never been a greater need for the U.S. to back its workers and businesses by strongly enforcing our trade laws and agreements,” said Wyden. “And in the face of unfair schemes by foreign governments and companies that undercut American jobs and exports, trade enforcement works.”
The World Trade Organization doesn’t resolve global trade violations nearly quick enough to help U.S. companies that suffer through those violations, said Schumer. Lawmakers are still considering whether to include antidumping and countervailing duty enforcement provisions, such as the Leveling the Playing Field Act and the Enforcing Orders and Reducing Circumvention Evasion (ENFORCE) Act, in TPA (see 1501130001).
Sens. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Bob Menendez, D-N.J., also insisted strong humanitarian and labor rights language is included in a final TPP. But Froman noted that TPP provides the forum to discuss those concerns. “It’s only because of TPP that we have the opportunity to have that that kind of dialogue with Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei,” said Froman.