U.S. Senators Katie Britt, Mike Crapo, Ron Wyden, Colleagues Call on President Biden to Stop Rushing Trade Negotiations Behind Closed Doors
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) recently joined Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and 15 of their Senate colleagues in a bipartisan letter calling on the lame-duck Biden-Harris Administration to stop rushing trade negotiations behind closed doors.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) is attempting to change at least three major trade agreements in secret, while sacrificing valuable leverage that USTR could use to win concessions from trading partners that would benefit Americans. USTR is seeking changes to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, and the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) by the end of the presidential term.
“Unfortunately, [the] USTR is pursuing substantive changes to congressionally approved trade agreements on an abbreviated timeline, out of the view of the public, and without meaningful congressional consultation,” the Senators wrote. “USTR did not consult with, or even notify, Congress before drafting these interpretations and seeking approval by the Executive Branch agencies.”
The Senators warned that making concessions to trading partners would sacrifice leverage to make progress on a number of U.S. priorities. In USMCA negotiations, for example, USTR should use any available leverage to address Mexico’s illegal fishing practices and energy laws that favor Mexican fossil fuels over American clean energy.
“Robust consultations with Congress and stakeholders would help USTR ensure that its engagements help Americans get what they were promised under U.S. trade agreements. To put it simply, trade policy is too important to keep Americans in the dark,” the Senators continued. “We urge you to direct USTR to refrain from further negotiating text proposals with foreign trading partners unless and until meaningful consultations with Congress and stakeholders have occurred.”
Senators Britt and Tuberville recently introduced a concurring resolution expressing the sense of Congress that USTR Katherine Tai’s closed-door negotiation regarding Annex 14-C of USMCA is not legally binding unless approved by Congress. The resolution also makes clear the USTR nor any other federal agency can invoke the “joint interpretation” in any legal proceeding or assert it has any legal consequence unless and until it is formally approved by Congress.
Last month, the Wall Street Journal published Senator Britt’s letter to the editor, which called attention to the Biden-Harris Administration’s closed-door negotiations. In the piece, she advocated for her bipartisan legislation, theDefending American Property Abroad Act, which would impose retaliatory prohibitions against the Government of Mexico if it attempts to profit from the seizure of Vulcan Materials Company’s property and port facility in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Vulcan Materials Company is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.
This week, the Washington Times published a column written by Senators Britt, Tuberville, and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) in which the lawmakers again rejected the Biden-Harris Administration’s dangerous, eleventh-hour effort and called on Congress to pass their Defending American Property Abroad Act.
The full text of the letter can be viewed here.
Joining Sens. Britt, Crapo, and Wyden in sending the letter to President Biden are Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Roger Marshall (R-Kan).
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