Stephanie Tubbs Jones: “I concur with my Ways and Means Democratic colleagues regarding the United States continued participation in the World…”

“I concur with my Ways and Means Democratic colleagues regarding the United States continued participation in the World Trade Organization (WTO). I do not agree with House Joint Resolution 27 and withdrawing Congressional approval of the WTO agreement. Our society is becoming global. There is growing interdependence of countries, resulting from the increasing integration of trade, finance, people, and ideas in one global marketplace. So, as international trade expands due to globalization, we need a set of trade rules and an international body to enforce those rules--the WTO. The WTO, and its predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, have opened foreign markets around the world for U.S. goods and services. This has created new opportunities for U.S. businesses, farmers, manufacturers, and workers. The U.S. economy is stronger because of the WTO. There are improvements, however, that can be made. There has to be better collaboration in understanding the relationship between trade and labor issues. We must ensure that core labor standards are enforced, particularly in developing economies. We must have more meaningful dialogue about environmental issues in trade discussions. We can accomplish this by fully integrating the work of the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment into the work of WTO negotiating groups. Furthermore, the WTO needs to be fully aware of the vulnerability of our domestic steel industry.…”