Jim Sensenbrenner: “both the U.S.-Chile and U.S.- Singapore Free Trade Agreements include several important provisions within the purview of…”

“both the U.S.-Chile and U.S.- Singapore Free Trade Agreements include several important provisions within the purview of the Judiciary Committee. Both agreements contain competition clauses that ensure antitrust laws are applied in a neutral, transparent, nondiscriminatory manner while safeguarding basic procedural rights. The agreements also contain robust intellectual property protections, requiring the governments of Chile and Singapore to take affirmative steps to eradicate the piracy of trademarks, patents, satellite television signals, and other forms of intellectual property. These intellectual property provisions are widely supported and are likely to serve as a model for future Free Trade Agreements. The intellectual property and antitrust provisions required no substantive changes to U.S. law. For the last several years, I have vocally and repeatedly expressed concern about substantive changes to U.S. law contained in free trade agreements.”