Founding New Dem Rep. Jim Moran Calls for TPA Action in USA TODAY
In today’s USA TODAY, Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA), a founding Member of the New Democrat Coalition, argued the progressive case for the United States to complete two critical trade agreements – the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership – in this Congress. He argues that the best way for Congress to meet these challenges is to pass Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation this year. Read the full column below:
Global economy needs U.S. engagement: Column
Our economic success in this century depends upon a focused effort to out-compete and out-innovate the best and brightest around the globe, and to sell more 'Made in America' goods and services to the billions who will be joining the global middle class.
That success is in jeopardy if we fail to complete two high-standard trade agreements — the Transatlantic Trade and InvestmentPartnership (T-TIP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The New Democrat Coalition, which we founded in the Clinton Administration, has prioritized these trade agreements because we strongly believe they can be a win-win for American workers and businesses. We can begin by formally identifying Congress' priorities for new trade agreements through Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which sets the parameters for the Administration to bring home the best agreement.
Those who would oppose these — or any — new trade agreements need to accept the fact that globalization is here to stay. The United States cannot sit on the sidelines. Consider that 75% of U.S. imports are already duty-free. And consider this: mobile phones will be in the hands of 5 billion people worldwide by 2017. That means that a majority of the world's population will have the tools to participate in global trade in the palms of their hands, regardless of whether we complete another trade agreement. We have the chance to set the 'rules of the road,' which is why we must ask ourselves: will we demand that other countries trade under rules that reflect American values, or will we be bystanders as others define the rules for us?
It is for that very reason that we must turn to, not away from, the global economy with a robust set of trade rules that establish high standards throughout the world. These high standards will ensure American families will be protected from tainted foods and faulty products. In the absence of these standards, international trade becomes a "race to the bottom" with countries disregarding the value of worker rights and environmental protection. That is exactly what we will have in the absence of TPP and T-TIP.
As I write, the Chinese are negotiating an alternative to TPP — they call it RCEP — that will heighten discrimination against the United States in everything from cars to film to food, and will cement a low-standard approach to labor and environmental protection all over the Pacific. If TPP fails and RCEP succeeds, expect American exports to be shut out of one of the world's fastest growing regions, with more companies looking to grow their businesses in other countries with lower labor and environmental standards. And we would miss opportunities to set standards on state owned enterprises and the digital economy.
I am not saying that legislators should blindly support TPP and T-TIP. Improvements must be made relative to previous agreements. Congress should and must exercise its legitimate oversight authority through Trade Promotion Authority in order to ensure that the process of completing major trade agreements is transparent, equitable and guided by the core American conviction of creating opportunity at home, not descend into the inward-facing, angry partisanship that has characterized so much of our activity in recent years. Progressives in particular have spent time and passion arguing for inclusion of labor and environmental standards in trade agreements — and with TPP and T-TIP, it is time to take yes for an answer.
We cannot quit the global economy, but it can surely quit us. Without active engagement on our part, our global competitors will continue to race ahead as we fall further behind. With our participation, we can help small businesses all across the country, like those in my Northern Virginia district that export everything from paper to electrical equipment to management services.
At the close of this Congress, I will leave the House of Representatives. When I depart, I want to know that the actions I took helped to foster broad-based prosperity here at home and raised standards across the globe. Hiding from the global economy will not achieve that. Building new value-based linkages and partnerships with the rest of the world will. That is why I will work with my congressional colleagues to pass TPA legislation this year.
Rep. Jim Moran is a Virginia Democrat and a founding member of the House New Democrat Coalition.
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