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Trade
CAFTA * Trade Promotion Authority
* Andean Trade Promotion
Act * China *
I strongly support expanding free trade, which is crucial
to strengthening our economy. Free, open trade is good for
the United States and our people economically, it is good
for us socially, and it is good for us politically.
Expanding trade is especially critical in Connecticut, where
our businesses exported $7.9 billion worth of goods in 1999.
Central American
Free Trade Agreement
On July 27, 2005, I voted for H.R.
3045, the Dominican Republic-Central American
Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, which passed the
House by a vote of 217 to 215. The legislation then passed
the Senate by a vote of 56 to 44 and was signed into law by
President Bush on August 2, 2005.
Expanding trade is critical to strengthening our economy.
This is especially true in Connecticut where our businesses
exported $8.3 billion in 2002, up $1.1 billion since 1999.
In fact, export-supported jobs accounted for an estimated
7.5 percent of the state's total private-sector employment.
Furthermore, I believe the best way the United States can
facilitate social and economic reforms in other countries
is through an open dialogue and greater trade. Reform will
not come to the developing world through isolation. Free trade
leads to a richer and more educated populace, which will lead
to more democracy and a desire to be accepted as a full member
in the world community. In my comments on the House floor,
I stated:
Leaders like Venezuela's Hugo Chavez are advancing an anti-American,
anti-Western agenda in our hemisphere. It amazes me we would
turn
our back on leaders who are standing up and asking to be more
closely
linked with the United States.
The CAFTA would establish an agreement to eliminate tariffs
and other barriers to trade in goods, agriculture, services
and investment between United States, Costa Rica, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, and now, the Dominican
Republic. As part of the CAFTA process, there are over 50
projects being initiated to assist Central America, including
technology assistance, programs to promote cleaner production,
and projects to help increase citizen input to trade negotiations.
For more information on CAFTA from the USTR, please
click here.
Trade Promotion Authority
I voted for H.R.
3005, the Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act,
when it passed the House on December 6 by a
vote of 215 to 214. In my judgment, trade can have
a positive effect on social reforms and environmental protections
by facilitating economic development and creating both the
income and the institutional structures to address those issues.
I am a cosponsor of H.R.
2149, the Trade Promotion Authority Act, which was
incorporated into H.R. 3005, a bill that represents a negotiated
agreement on certain controversial trade issues.
The bill gives the President authority to negotiate and bring
back trade agreements to Congress designed to eliminate trade
barriers relating to services, agriculture, intellectual property,
and other areas. It enables the United States to enter into
new trade agreements to spur economic growth, improve efficiency
and innovation, and create better, higher-paying jobs for
hard-working Americans.
In addition to these economic benefits, as income in developing
nations increases, the capacity and willingness of their societies
to sacrifice consumption for social reforms and environmental
protection also tends to increase. Such reforms are more likely
to occur in a developing economy with growing income, a point
underscored by the exemption of China and other developing
nations from the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.
It is important to understand H.R. 3005 does not take power
away from Congress. The bill gives the President authority
to negotiate trade agreements and bring them back to Congress
to approve or disapprove. As part of the negotiating process,
H.R. 3005 expands and improves consultations between the President
and Congress before, during and after trade negotiations and
in the development of appropriate implementing legislation.
The President is required, before initiating negotiations,
to provide written notice and consult with Congress at least
90 days prior to entering into trade negotiations. Throughout
the negotiations, the President is to consult with the Congress
give prior notice of his intent to enter into an agreement.
Andean Trade Promotion Act
I supported H.R.
3009, the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act,
when it passed the House by voice vote on November 16, 2001.
The bill extends through December 2006 duty- and quota-free
imports of certain textile and apparel goods that are assembled
from U.S. materials, similar to the treatment given to imports
from Caribbean countries and Mexico.
China
I, too, am increasingly concerned about China's trade policies.
While I am an advocate of free trade, I don't support trade
when one country is limiting access to its markets. It seems
to me China is failing to implement necessary -- and required
-- reforms, while the United States has opened its markets.
On July 27, 2005, I voted for
H.R. 3283, the United States Trade Rights Enforcement
Act, which passed the House by a vote of 255 to 168. This
legislation will apply countervailing duty law to certain
goods from non-market economies, such as China, and allow
businesses who have been adversely affected by subsidies granted
to competitors by these countries to bring complaints to a
dispute resolution panel. It also expresses the sense of Congress
that duties should be applied to all products from non-market
economies.
The legislation would also increase trade rights enforcement
funding in the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Office by
$6 million and authorizes USTR to create a trade enforcement
officer within USTR who would focus on combating unfair and
illegal trading practices by our trading partners.
Furthermore, I was pleased China took a first step towards
revaluing its currency. On July 21, 2005, China announced
it was revaluing its currency higher against the dollar and
said it would move to a system in which its currency's value
would be pegged to a "market basket" of currencies,
instead of just the dollar.
While I recognize this is only a first step, after years
of inaction in moving its currency, this is welcome news.
As China revalues its currency, it should close our trade
deficit and allow U.S. exporters greater access to Chinese
markets. I also agree with many top economists, including
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, that China's carefully
managed move to a more flexible valuation is good for world
financial markets.
According to the USTR's 2004 Report to Congress on China's
WTO Compliance, China has made substantial progress in opening
its markets, but there are several areas - particularly in
Intellectual Property Rights - where the Chinese are still
lagging behind. Since many of China's reforms were put into
place in 2004, I will be very interested to learn about our
access to Chinese markets in the forthcoming 2005 report.
I will continue to closely monitor China's progress in complying
with its WTO commitments.
On May 25, 2001, the House voted to extend Permanent Normal
Trade Relations (PNTR) to China by a vote of 237 to 197. I
supported this measure and worked actively to ensure passage
of permanent NTR in the House, which Congress must grant before
China could enter the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Had we denied NTR to China, we would only have played into
the hands of the hard-line Chinese leaders who believe human
rights are secondary to the supreme power of the government.
Fostering trade, however, helps those in China who support
political reform.
A nation cannot have a prosperous free market economy without
educating its citizens. The more educated a country's citizens
become, the more they will demand an open society and freedom.
Only through trade and economic and social engagement will
this transformation take place.
Statement
of Congressman Christopher Shays on Permanent Normal Trade
Relations with China
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