House Passes CAFTA, Trade Enforcement Legislation

To ensure long-term economic vitality in our nation, American trade policy should ensure American producers have the tools they need to combat the unfair trade practices of other nations and enhance access to foreign markets for American producers.  The United States House of Representatives passed two bills on July 27^th which address these trade priorities.

First, the House passed the United States Trade Enforcement Act (H.R. 3283) by a vote of 240 to 186.  This important legislation closes a loophole in current trade law by allowing countervailing duties to be imposed on so-called "non-market economies," most notably China, when said countries provide export subsidies to their manufacturers in violation of international trade agreements.  Such countervailing duties can already be imposed on governments with market-based economies, but cannot be imposed on China.  This double-standard is completely unacceptable and economically damaging to American manufacturers that play by the rules.  As such, I voted in favor of H.R. 3283.

With respect to increasing access to foreign markets, the House passed the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).  Currently, most imports from the Dominican Republic and Central American countries enter the United States duty-free, which means that employment in the United States is less likely to be significantly impacted by CAFTA.  However, substantial barriers are currently in place for U.S. exports to these countries.  CAFTA will remove these barriers for U.S. exports of manufactured goods.  American farmers will also receive a boost with the elimination of steep tariffs on many U.S. farm exports.  Finally, fines can be imposed on CAFTA countries which do not enforce core labor standards, and benchmarks will be set for the improvement of the environment in the region. 

It should also be noted that, in addition to enhancing export opportunities for American companies, CAFTA will help to strengthen our ties with American allies in the region.  These allies, such as El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, are new democracies, born out of bloody civil wars in the region in the 1980s.  It is clearly in the national security interests of the United States to engage in commerce with the people of these countries, reinforcing the growth of democracy in Latin America.

The House passed CAFTA by a vote of 217 to 215.  I joined the bi-partisan majority of my colleagues in voting in favor of its passage.  In my many conversations with local employers and workers, I have found that Chinese trade practices are viewed as perhaps the most significant cause of trade-related job losses within manufacturing.  Central America and the Dominican Republic-with a combined economy that is less than 1% the size of our economy-are viewed as having either a negligible impact on business or as presenting an opportunity to export more of our products.  The passage of both H.R. 3283 and CAFTA correctly recognizes these economic factors.