Sánchez Opening Statement at Trade Subcommittee Hearing on Advancing America’s Interest at the WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference
(As prepared for delivery)
Thank you, Chairman Smith. And thank you to our witnesses for being here today.
Today’s hearing takes place at a key moment for the global trading system.
For nearly three decades, the WTO has been the cornerstone of the rules-based international trading system.
Core principles such as most-favored-nation treatment and national treatment have formed the bedrock of the global trading system for decades. These rules ensure that American exporters are treated fairly abroad and that trade flows according to transparent and predictable standards.
Yet, over the last two years, the Trump Administration has attacked the WTO and upended the international legal order which American businesses and consumers rely on.
As the Supreme Court recently ruled, President Trump’s so-called “reciprocal tariffs” on our trading partners represented an egregious abuse of the rule of law.
When the United States disregards the rules we helped create, we hurt American businesses, workers, and families.
And we weaken our ability to hold other countries accountable when they break those same rules.
Instead of taking on the biggest trade cheats, the Trump administration has been working to figure out how to replicate its illegal tariff regime.
While also desperately trying to get countries to strike trade deals with them.
The U.S. Trade Representative and Treasury Secretary are currently in Paris negotiating a milquetoast “trade deal” with China.
I do not need a crystal ball to know this deal will fail to address China’s cheating through market distortions, egregious IP theft and forced technology transfer, and rampant human rights abuses.
As the WTO prepares for MC14, addressing unfair, non-market practices like these — by China and any other country — should be a priority for the global trading system. In this context, it is important that WTO members recognize the importance of the institution as a forum to convene, set rules, and resolve disputes.
WTO Members must seek meaningful WTO reforms that strengthen the system while preserving its core foundations. This includes modernizing WTO rules so they can address today’s challenges from forced labor to the clean energy transition.
Another issue ministers are likely to confront at MC14 is the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions.
I support extending that moratorium permanently because it strengthens American innovation and helps ensure that U.S. entrepreneurs, especially small businesses, can compete globally.
It is also long overdue that the WTO address its failure to incorporate labor standards.
The issue of trade and labor has been with the WTO since its inception.
While WTO agreements cover a wide range of issues.
From agricultural subsidies to technical barriers, to trade services and intellectual property.
There is no requirement for labor standards.
The preamble of the Marrakesh Agreement states that the WTO’s purpose is to raise living standards and promote full employment.
But the WTO has failed – and will continue to fail – this objective unless it meaningfully recognizes the importance of improving outcomes for workers, not just large corporations.
In the 1994 Uruguay Rounds Agreement Act, Congress required the President to establish a working party at the WTO that examined the link between trade and worker rights.
In 1996, at the Singapore Ministerial Conference, the United States tabled a proposal calling for the study of labor rights in the WTO.
And, in 1998 at the Seattle Round, the U.S. proposed the creation of a WTO Working Group on Trade and Labor.
The WTO must finally establish a working party on trade and labor standards.
And the WTO’s accession process must include a mandatory review of an acceding country’s labor standards.
Addressing known labor abuses was not necessary for China to obtain U.S. support for WTO membership – a decision American workers and workers around the world continue to pay for today.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses on what to expect at the upcoming ministerial conference.
And how Congress can help ensure U.S. engagement at the WTO advances the interests of American workers, farmers, and businesses.
Thank you, and I yield back.
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