WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION NEGOTIATIONS

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Timothy Logan
5 years ago
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1 COMMITTEE: POLICY: HISTORY: LABOR & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION NEGOTIATIONS ADOPTED AT THE 2002 ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING. AMENDED AND UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED AT THE 2005 ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING. VERSION/STATUS: RENEWAL - EXPIRES NCSL ANNUAL MEETING The National Conference of State Legislatures recognizes the benefits of international trade in creating jobs, raising living standards and stimulating growth in the United States In general, NCSL recognizes and supports U.S. efforts to increase the transparency, accessibility and accountability of the World Trade Organization (WTO). NCSL also supports broadening participation in the WTO and addressing environmental and labor matters. To achieve these ends, NCSL endorses the call for a new round of trade negotiations within the WTO to further reduce trade barriers in manufactured products, agriculture and services. NCSL believes that any new round of negotiations within the WTO must be designed to achieve these ends and be fully consistent with NCSL s policy on Free Trade and Federalism In particular, NCSL will not support trade or investment agreements that do not include reservations that limit the unnecessary preemption of state law and that preserve the authority of state legislatures. Implementing legislation for trade and investment agreements must also be crafted to include protections for our constitutional system of federalism. Reservations must be made to trade and investment agreements

2 to grandfather existing state laws that might otherwise be subject to challenge and so far as possible commit the federal government to protecting state authority when it is exercised in conformity with accepted U.S. constitutional principles of non-discrimination against foreign commerce. Particular care must be exercised to ensure that state tax laws and revenue systems are not subject to unjustified challenge under international agreements, and they generally should be carved out of such agreements. In addition, provisions must be made to deny any private right of action in U.S. courts or before international dispute resolution panels based on international trade or investment agreements. 26 General Agreement on Trade in Services The United States is a signatory to the World Trade Organization s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). As GATS attempts to apply trade rules to and regulate tariffs for industries beyond the production and shipment of tangible goods, GATS touches upon many sectors regulated by states and of interest to state legislators Services constitute an important and growing segment of the American and the global economies. NCSL concurs that it is critical that the United States remain competitive in services sectors. However, international competition in service industries cannot compromise state constitutional or traditional authority or in any way impinge upon states ability to protect the public interest. Services negotiations in particular must incorporate a concerted effort to consult with state legislatures, where policies about government-provided services, regulation of monopolies, provision of essential

3 services (such as energy, water, health, education, or public safety), powers of public utility commissions, or privatization are set. Consultation with state legislators is absolutely necessary prior to, during, and after negotiations conducted under GATS NCSL recognizes that sections 2103 and 2106 of the Presidential Trade Promotion Act of 2002 now require that the President notify the Congress as new rounds of GATS negotiations begin and that the Congress approve the results of those negotiations before implementation. NCSL applauds the Congress for instituting this modification to the GATS process and looks forward to working with the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the Congress as negotiations continue In particular, NCSL is concerned about GATS negotiations relative to energy and electricity. Trade rules of GATS apply to more than cross-border trade and cover state regulation of a domestic market, such as electricity where multinational companies have a commercial presence. GATS negotiations on energy and electricity on services related to transmission, distribution, and access of energy traders to the grid could conflict with state energy policy and alter the balance of domestic authority between states and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). NCSL has led efforts to create a working group of state and local policymakers, regulators, and other officials to examine and discuss energy and trade policy. This working group has held mutually beneficial meetings with USTR to promote dialogue and information exchange and has undertaken an exhaustive study of GATS implications for state and local authority over electricity policy. The working group has published an interim report and NCSL encourages USTR to remain engaged with the working group as it continues to study these issues.

4 NCSL applauds the consultations that have been undertaken thus far related to renewable energy and electric utility services and encourages USTR to devote substantially the same attention and effort, potentially through similar working groups such as the Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee s services and investor-state working groups, to consultations related to other sectors. 67 Agreement on Government Procurement The United States is party to the World Trade Organization s Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). When negotiating the GPA, USTR solicited the state governors for permission to include state procurement and to bind state procurement processes to the GPA. USTR asserts that 37 states were voluntarily bound through this process to the GPA. In September 2003, USTR requested state governors to make similar commitments to several free trade agreements (FTAs) being negotiated at the time. NCSL recognizes that consultation with a limited number of governors is simpler than communicating with 7,500 legislators and that USTR has increasingly made these letters available publicly on the Internet. Nonetheless, the federal government must work with state legislatures to ensure that decisions about state procurement practices are made with their consent NCSL is concerned that USTR s policy of communicating only with governors on procurement issues does not adequately provide for consultation with state legislatures or consider a need to change state law to adjust and obligate state procurement policy. State procurement policy and practices often are set in state law and are sometimes designed to serve social or economic purposes beyond the mere provision of goods and

5 services for state government use. NCSL encourages USTR to insure that states can retain the ability to use procurement policy to promote these public interests while negotiating any modifications to GPA or procurement chapters in FTAs USTR has indicated to NCSL that there is some movement within the WTO to open and renegotiate sections of the GPA. Recognizing the value of state purchasing power to international agreements including procurement provisions and the role of state legislatures in setting state procurement policies, NCSL urges USTR to consult regularly and meaningfully with NCSL during any renegotiations.

Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015: Section-by-Section Summary

Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015: Section-by-Section Summary Overview: Section 1: Short Title Section 2: Trade Negotiating Objectives Section 3: Trade Agreements