Source: United States Senator for Ohio Sherrod Brown
Deputy USTR Nominees Commit to Visiting Ohio, Meeting with Ohio Workers
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – In Case You Missed It, yesterday, during a Senate Finance Committee hearing to consider the nominations of Sarah Bianchi, Jayme Ray White, and Melanie Anne Egorin to be Deputy United States Trade Representatives, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) emphasized the need for worker inclusion and input when considering trade policies that affect their job opportunities, wages, and the fate of their communities. Brown also secured commitments from all three nominees to visit Ohio to meet with Ohio workers.
“Ohio workers and businesses know all too well what happens to their jobs and their towns when countries like China cheat,” said Brown. “We need to do everything we can to make sure American companies, especially smaller companies, have the ability to use trade laws to fight back against those unfair trade practices.”
During the hearing Brown questioned the nominees whether workers and their communities should be central to any potential trade agreement.
More from Brown’s hearing exchange is included below and video is available HERE:
Brown: So, today, I’d like to ask the deputy USTR nominees a simple yes or no question. Do you believe that understanding when and where trade hurts specific workers and communities within the United States should be central to any potential trade agreement?
Ms. Bianchi: Yes.
Mr. White: Yes.
Brown: Do you believe that we have done a good job as a country of understanding these costs for workers, and entire communities and regions of the country, in the past?
Ms. Bianchi: No.
Mr. White: No.
Additional Background on Brown’s Efforts to Implement Labor-Centered Trade Policy:
Earlier this month, Brown hosted a virtual roundtable with Ambassador Katherine Tai, the 19th United States Trade Representative, and Ohio workers, farmers, and manufacturers to discuss the impact of trade policy on Ohio communities. During a Senate Committee on Finance hearing in May, Ambassador Tai committed to Brown that she would visit Ohio to meet with local workers and hear how unfair trade policies have impacted their lives. Brown, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, a leader on trade policy and a vocal champion of American workers, was a strong supporter of Ambassador Tai’s nomination.
In May, Brown and Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced an amendment, the Leveling the Playing Field Act 2.0, to legislation the Senate is currently considering called the Endless Frontier Act. This amendment is identical to legislation Brown and Portman introduced earlier in the year to strengthen U.S. trade remedy laws and ensure they remain effective tools to fight back against unfair trade practices and protect American workers. The Endless Frontier Act is a bipartisan bill aimed at advancing U.S. technology research, creating jobs, and improving economic and national security in order to counter China’s economic and political ambitions.
Sens. Brown and Portman initially introduced the Leveling the Playing Field Act 2.0 in April as a stand-alone piece of legislation. This legislation builds upon the Leveling the Playing Field Act, a bill signed into law by former President Obama in 2015, that gives U.S. companies new tools to fight against unfair trade practices.
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