AFTE Commends Biden Administration’s Commitment to Strengthen U.S. Trade Enforcement
WASHINGTON (March 4) — Yesterday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken outlined the Biden administration’s national security strategy in a speech at the State Department.
Secretary Blinken acknowledged that past administrations haven’t done enough to enforce existing U.S. trade agreements “or help more workers and small businesses fully benefit from them.” He committed the Biden administration to a new approach that recognizes the entwined nature of “our domestic renewal and our strength in the world.”
The Alliance for Trade Enforcement commends the Biden administration for acknowledging previous missteps and for agreeing to once again “fight for every American job and for the rights, protections, and interests of all American workers.”
“It’s heartening to see the administration take such a firm stance on trade enforcement within President Biden’s first 100 days in office,” said Brian Pomper, executive director of the Alliance for Trade Enforcement. “To advance our nation’s national security agenda and better support U.S. workers and businesses, policymakers must hold our foreign trading partners to the commitments they’ve made.”
AFTE has already outlined how the Biden administration can fulfill its new enforcement pledge. The coalition offered concrete steps in comments submitted for the 2021 National Trade Estimate and Special 301 Reports, as well as in a memo sent to the Biden-Harris transition team.
Recommendations range from bringing Korea into full compliance with the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement and negotiating strong IP protections in a Phase 2 U.S.-Japan deal to stemming the spread of digital services taxes abroad and cracking down on copyright violations in Canada and Mexico.
“The sentiments expressed by Secretary Blinken are encouraging,” said Pomper. “AFTE urges the administration to start working to fully implement the provisions of existing trade agreements and level the playing field for American businesses and workers.”
About the Alliance for Trade Enforcement: The Alliance for Trade Enforcement is a coalition of trade associations and business groups that advocates for foreign governments to end unfair trade practices that harm U.S. innovative industries and supports U.S. policymakers in their efforts to hold our trading partners accountable.