Published 06/29/09

Dustin Ensinger

Over 100 House members, unhappy with America's failed trade policies, are taking matters into their own hands in the form of the Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment Act (TRADE), which has the potential to completely reshape how Washington conducts business with regard to trade.

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Michael Michaud (D-ME), chairman of the House Trade Working Group, would completely overhaul America's trade policy and could force the Obama administration to renegotiate current "free trade" agreements such as the flawed North American Free Trade Agreement.

"We all know that we live in a globalized world. But we need to ensure trade is fair for our workers and the economy. The TRADE Act shows what we are for in future trade agreements - and paves the way on how to fix our existing agreements," Michaud said in a press release.

The bill would require the Government Accountability Office to conduct a comprehensive review of America's major trade pacts including NAFTA, the World Trade Organization and the Central American Free Trade Agreement. That review must be conducted before Congress would be allowed to analyze any new or pending trade pacts.

It would also require that any future trade pacts include environmental and labor standards, food and product safety measures, human rights protections, currency anti-manipulation rules, federalism safeguards and national security exceptions.

In addition, the bill would require the president to renegotiate existing trade agreements based on the aforementioned standards and the recommendations of the Government Accountability Office. Finally, the bill would scrap fast-track negotiating authority for the president and put more power in the hands of Congress in choosing trade partners and negotiating trade pacts.

Overall the bill has 106 co-sponsors, including nine committee chairs, 45 subcommittee chairs and members of the Democratic caucus ranging from very liberal to slightly conservative. The bill also has two Republican cosponsors: Reps. Walter Jones of North Carolina and Chris Smith of New Jersey.

Michaud introduced similar legislation in the previous Congress. During that time, the legislation gained the support of just 74 cosponsors, however, it did not make it out of committee.

"This is an exciting day for trade policy," said Michaud. "Last year, we had 74 cosponsors of the TRADE Act and this year we have 106. Members are sick and tired of being against trade agreements and they want to stand for something. I have no doubt the number of cosponsors have increased because the American people are demanding a new course on trade. The TRADE Act is a tremendous step forward in the debate and could help shape the future of our trade policies."

Michaud, told Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill that he believes the legislation is entirely consistent with the trade policy platform President Barack Obama ran on.

During the campaign, Obama was a very vocal critic of NAFTA and threatened to unilaterally pull out of the agreement in order to insert environmental and labor standards.

"I would immediately call the president of Mexico, the president of Canada to try to amend NAFTA because I think that we can get labor agreements in that agreement right now," he said during a Democratic debate. "And it should reflect the basic principle that our trade agreements should not just be good for Wall Street, it should also be good for Main Street."

That position, however, seems to have been abandoned since entering office. Not only has Obama signaled that he has no intention of engaging in a full-blown renegotiation of NAFTA, but his administration also appears prepared to move forward with pending "free trade' pacts with South Korea, Panama and Columbia.

If passed, the bill could hamstring the Obama administration, forcing it to comply with the standards set by the legislation and almost certainly derail the pending trade agreements. The bill has been heavily criticized by pro-"free trade" organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

"This is a recipe for disaster," Christopher Wenk, trade lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told Roll Call. "These guys want to set a course backward on trade, and we want to set a course forward on trade. This is not the course our workers and exporters need right now."

In spite of Wenk's comments, the legislation has widespread support among the manufacturers, trade unions, environmental groups and agricultural groups. Some of those supporting the legislation include the AFL-CIO, the United Steelworkers, the Sierra Club, the National Family Farm Coalition and Public Citizen.

"This bill would put an end to the disastrous trade deals that have been killing American jobs," Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said in a press release. "The TRADE Act would make sure that trade creates good jobs and improves working conditions everywhere."