Senate Democrats Say Trade Negotiation Transparency is Lacking
The nine Senate Finance Committee Democrats asked President Donald Trump to direct agency leaders to disclose more information on trade negotiations in Jan. 12 letter. "Recent decisions by the Administration to begin trade negotiations with Korea without complying with basic transparency requirements set out in U.S. law and the failure of the Administration to release several trade-related reports raise serious questions regarding the Administration's commitment to openness with the American public when it comes to trade policy," said the group. There's been a lack of consultations "with Congress regarding how sensitive products will be addressed in the negotiations (including sensitive agricultural products and textiles)," the Senators said. The public "has been kept in the dark as to the Administration's specific intentions regarding the renegotiation of a free trade agreement that is second only to NAFTA in size."
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
Despite several reports required under 2017 executive orders from the Commerce Department and the U.S. Trade Representative, "none has been released to the public," it said. "Either these reports were not completed, or they are being kept from Congress and the public," said the lawmakers. For example, reports on trade deficits (see 17040300360), Buy American policies (see 1704190025) or World Trade Organization rules (see 1705010018) have yet to be issued, said the Senators. "We urge you to act swiftly to direct agencies to publicly release all completed trade-related reports and to direct USTR, in its negotiations with Korea, to comply with transparency and consultation requirements."