Source: United States Senator for Ohio Sherrod Brown
Download Production Quality Footage of Sen. Brown’s Exchanges HERE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In Case You Missed It: Today, during a Senate Finance Committee nomination hearing, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) pressed Ms. Maria Pagán, nominee for Deputy U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) at the World Trade Organization (WTO), on the need for reform at the WTO to hold China accountable and create a truly level playing field for American workers and businesses. Following the Senate Finance hearing, Brown participated in a bipartisan Finance Committee meeting with Ambassador Katherine Tai to discuss her role in reforming U.S. trade policy to become more worker-centered.
“China’s entry into the WTO has been devastating for Ohio workers and Ohio companies. The Chinese Government cheats the global system by using forced technologies transfers, intellectual property theft, and chronic state subsidized overcapacity in key industries, like steal and solar, to undermine U.S. industry. The WTO can’t be a tool by which China bullies its competitors. If China continues to make a mockery of the World Trade Organization, Americans and the rest of the rule following world are going to lose faith both in the WTO and their own leaders to appeal for relief,” said Brown at the Finance Committee hearing.
During his questioning, Brown questioned Ms. Pagán about how she would reform the WTO to ensure that American workers and businesses are not harmed by the Chinese Government’s abuse of the dispute settlement process and other WTO procedures. He made clear that if WTO plans to continue to set standards for global trade policy, it will need to work to establish a floor for labor and environmental commitments going forward. Those policies include addressing China’s systematic undermining of the global system at WTO, which has been devastating for Ohio workers and Ohio industry.
More from Brown’s hearing exchanges is included below and video is available HERE.
“An important issue and an important angle to bring to everything that we do at the WTO is to bring the workers centric focus to everything that we do, to remind ourselves that we’re there to trade and facilitate trade, but that also means that we have to protect the workers that the trade comes from,” said Ms. Pagán. “There are any number of ways that we can address this issue and if confirmed I look forward to working with you on this.”
Sen. Brown’s readout of the Finance Committee meeting with Ambassador Tai is available below.
“The committee had a productive meeting with Ambassador Tai, who has led efforts to empower all workers through trade policy. She knows as well as anyone that trade policies like USMCA are foundational – not an aspiration – for establishing labor rights globally. She also knows that the success of these policies depends on enforcement and implementation, which is why I asked her to update the committee on how these policies are being implemented and what tools she may need to address them.”
###