Trading Away Bargaining Power by Seth Bodner (NAPSA)—U.S. trade officials are now moving quickly on two fronts. First, they are wrapping up special “free trade” agreements with individual countries, particularly Singapore and Chile. Second, in an effort to move stalled worldwide trade negotiations, they are offering radical proposals to eliminate all tariffs on manufactured goods and to minimize agricultural subsidies. These activities pave the way for even more foreign goods to be sold in the U.S., lowering the job and earning prospects for millions of hardworking Americans. Because it adopted Fast Track rules last summer, Congress can only await the conclusion of such trade deals and then vote either “yes” or “no,” without the possibility of changing any provisions which harm American workers. The U.S. Trade Representative’s office is supposed to keep Congress informed about the progress of the negotiations and solicit its input, but in practice this doesn’t happen. Why did Fast Track pass? Our trade negotiators told Congress that many nations were making free trade agreements, but the U.S. was being “left out” because Congress might change a trade deal presented to it, undoing years of negotiations. Thus, although America has the world’s largest market, our trade negotiators and multinational corporate lobbyists claimed Fast Track was needed to get our trading partners to negotiate. In fact, “free trade” deals were being concluded, but the U.S. Congress is the only national legislature to deny itself the ability to change a bad trade agreement. i Be a eee ee ein| nee Metabo a The real reason to sideline Congress through Fast Track? Both U.S. multinational corporate lobbyists and the U.S. trade negotiators want unfettered power to insert their special deals into trade packages. By hiding favored provisions in a broader package, the lobbyists and negotiators are assured these will survive—since Congress can’t change the final agreement under Fast Track. So Fast Track is really about avoiding Congressional scrutiny of the actions of our trade negotiators and multinational corporations. Given the recent revelations of corporate wrongdoing—while government agencies looked the other way—the fact that American workers will be left to pay the price of sweetheart trade deals under Fast Track should not be surprising. Mr. Bodner is a consultant with more than 35 years experience in international trade negotiations in government and industry. Most recently he served as Executive Director of the National Knitwear & Sportswear Association.
