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The key challenge that we face in terms of our
international trade practices is finding the means through which we
can foster fair trade that protects the rights and prerogatives of
American workers while also upholding the best practices standards
that are in place with respect to our international trade partners.
Fair trade agreements must be based upon the three key principles
that the dignity of labor is honored, workplace safety standards are
upheld, and environmental protection is guaranteed. In my view, the
failure of any proposed trade agreement to ensure such practices
would be sufficient reason to oppose such a measure.
We must remember that nations enter into trade agreements because it
is mutually beneficent for them to do so—it is perceived as the
classic “win-win” scenario. An effective trade agreement cannot be
evaluated in the context of being a zero-sum game in which only one
side benefits and the other side capitulates. The key element to
negotiating effective trade agreements is to utilize the principle
of national self-interest while at the same time proffering
potential benefits that can be advantageous to the economic
development of our trade partners. When describing the benefits of
capitalism we often use the old familiar adage that “A rising tide
lifts all ships.” If we truly believe in the economic potential of
the free market, we must be willing to engage in fair trade
practices that can help to lift others out of poverty and despair.
Doing so is in the long-range strategic interest of the United
States.
I believe that there are key potential hemispheric partnerships that
the U.S. can develop with sister republics in the Americas that can
be mutually beneficent in the long run. Key among these is the
opening of relations with Cuba after two generations of embargoed
trade. An effective trade policy can leverage the potential for
economic development with the attainment of key benchmarks dealing
with expansion of democracy, liberalization of human rights
practices, and freedom of association. [to
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Although these goals are ideal in the abstract, we
must certainly incorporate the “trust but verify” principle to
guarantee that real progress is being achieved as a result of trade
policy. Our policy must always be contingent upon real and
measurable results. In addition to Cuba, such possibilities for
hemispheric trade partnerships could also be developed with Bolivia
and Venezuela provided that they too were willing to implement the
changes outlined in the previously mentioned benchmarks.
Fair trade policies cannot establish the groundwork for siphoning
off American jobs to foreign subcontractors who hire cheap labor and
do not meet safety and environmental standards. The United States is
a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and
to various international protocols that seek to suppress unfree
labor and modern slavery practices. We must never agree to trade
policies that act in violation of the key values that we hold dear
with respect to the dignity of labor and the worth of the
individual. There are key advantages that can be gained through
international trade agreements, but we must never permit commercial
interests to overshadow our commitment to long-standing practices
that honor the dignity of labor.
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[Text from file received] |
