Congressional Liberals Say They Need More Say in IPEF
Learn from the lessons of the failed Trans-Pacific Partnership, warned trade skeptics Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, in a letter they and other signatories released publicly Aug. 2. They said binding commitments in either the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, or reached with Latin American partners, are not legal without congressional say-so. "The administration’s many public declarations about the proposed IPEF process seem to indicate that it plans to negotiate a binding agreement while circumventing congressional input, authority, and approval," they wrote.
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They said the IPEF should not encourage companies to move Chinese supply chains to vendors in IPEF countries without labor standards and environmental standards being raised. They expressed concern that the supply chain pillar is led by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who they said has not made the same commitments as the U.S. trade representative on these matters.
"Countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, the Philippines, and Thailand are not suited at this time to meet the objectives or standards that must be at the heart of any pact that will qualify as promoting the worker-centered trade agenda that we join President Biden in supporting," they wrote to Tai, Raimondo, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.