New Democrat Coalition Trade Leaders Respond to USTR’s Efforts to Ensure Strong Enforcement of International Trade Rules
Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI), Chairman of the pro-growth New Democrat Coalition, issued the following joint statement with Coalition Trade Task Force Co-Chairs Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA), Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA), and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) in response to the announcement that the United States is proceeding with a labor enforcement case against Guatemala under the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR):
“Today’s announcement by U.S. Trade Representative Froman and Labor Secretary Perez sends a clear, unequivocal message to our trading partners: we will not take enforcing our standards lightly,” the statement read. “International competition should be a race for innovation advantage, not a race to the bottom on labor standards. We commend USTR and the Labor Department for continuing to stand by the rights of workers in Guatemala by initiating this action. Smart, vigorous enforcement, coupled with a robust system of international trade agreements aimed at selling our products around the globe can be a win-win for everybody, but only if our trading partners play by the rules.”
In a September 16 letter responding to a previous letter from New Democrat Coalition Members, USTR Froman and Commerce Secretary Pritzker outlined the efforts that the Administration has undertaken to ensure that our nation’s pro-growth, pro-worker trade strategy includes strong enforcement of U.S. rights under our international trade agreements. The letter notes that ‘since 2009, the United States has brought 18 World Trade Organization (WTO) complaints, with a focus on opening large, strategic markets, and combating policies and practices of greatest concern.’ It also details a number of enforcement actions taken by the Department of Commerce, including 48 antidumping and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations aimed at curbing the illegal practice of flooding domestic markets with unfairly subsidized foreign goods.
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