Tai to Congress: Policy is "middle-out and bottom-up"

United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai testified before comgress last week, Monday before the House Ways and Means Committee and Wednesday before the Sebate Fiance Committee.   

Her prepared remarks included a recap of her office's activities last year, repeating the refrain that progress in trade negotiations is best measured in ways other than agreements inked.  

Excerpts are reproduced below, edited for brevity.

"We have shifted the conversation from focusing on the bigs to including and championing the interests of the smalls and the mediums.  From trickle down to bottom up.  From people as consumers only to people as workers also.
 
We are reorienting the economic system to strengthen the middle class. 
 
The President’s trade agenda is critical to this reorientation.  In the past, trade policy primarily focused on and benefitted the largest stakeholders, but we are flipping that top-down approach on its head. 
 
Our approach is one that addresses and advances the interests of all parts of our economy and does not pit Americans against Americans.  Let me give you some examples of what middle-out, bottom-up trade policy looks like.
 
 
USMCA 

Trade agreements are not trophies to admire on shelves—they are tools to get us results.  The United States – Mexico – Canada Agreement (USMCA) is a prime example.
 
When I worked for the Ways & Means Committee, I worked with many of you to create the USMCA’s Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM), and I want to share what it is doing for working people.
 
Since 2021, the United States has sought Mexico’s review under the RRM 22 times at facilities that span various industries, including automotive, garments, mining, and services. 
 
These cases have so far directly benefited 30,000 [Mexican] workers, provided five million dollars in backpay and benefits to workers, ensured wrongly terminated workers were reinstated, and helped secure free and fair elections in which workers selected independent unions to represent them. 
 
 
 This is why enforcing the trade rules we have continues to be a priority this year for the Administration.  For the USMCA, this extends to the interests and rights of our farmers and agricultural producers.
 
I know the agricultural biotechnology concerns with Mexico are important to our farmers, especially our corn producers.  Last August, we established a dispute settlement panel under the USMCA.  
 
I also know that many of you are concerned that Mexico is undermining American companies and U.S.-produced energy in favor of Mexico’s state-owned utility and oil and gas company.  We launched dispute settlement consultations under USMCA with Mexico to address those concerns and continue engagement with our stakeholders on developments.
 
On Canada dairy, the United States won a USMCA dispute on Canada’s tariff rate quota allocation measures.  However, Canada’s revised policies did not fix the problem for U.S. dairy farmers, and we will continue to work with Canada to resolve our dairy industry’s concerns.  

 Transforming the WTO
 
This is part of our overall effort to make the WTO more responsive and effective.
 
Our Administration is working with other WTO Members on a reform agenda that reflects priorities of our worker-centered approach—improving labor standards, protecting our planet, and advancing shared prosperity.
 
MC13 was an important milestone to gauge our progress to date, and we announced several important outcomes.
 
We made more progress on dispute settlement reform in the last year than we did in the last several decades. 
 
We extended the e-commerce moratorium, which was not a forgone conclusion.
 
We also announced significant development outcomes. 
 
Our discussions in Abu Dhabi highlighted that developing economies, both large and small, are having important debates over what rules and policies best serve their interests.  This includes issues such as inclusivity, sustainable development, and the need for our trade policies to be flexible to allow WTO Members to manage current global challenges.
 
While MC13 is over, our work at the WTO continues, and our Administration remains committed to working with all WTO Members to develop a common agenda that allows all of us to have our priorities reflected. 
 
Trade deals take time, but our team made more progress in the last year than what would typically take years to complete. 
 
Supply Chain Resilience 
 
But to continue our work to develop innovative trade tools and strategies for connecting trade and other economic policy measures to advance supply chain resilience, we published a Federal Register notice last month. 
 
This will allow USTR to draw upon various perspectives and experiences to get a more granular understanding of the challenges and to identify potential policy solutions.
 
 
 
Standing up to the PRC

The PRC’s unfair policies and practices have devastated many working communities and industries across our country, including many in your states. 
 
Steel, aluminum, solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles, and critical minerals—just to name a few.
 
We have seen the PRC create dependencies and vulnerabilities in multiple sectors, harming American workers and businesses and creating real risks for our supply chains.
 
This is why we are taking a serious look at how our existing tools are addressing this problem, including through our four-year review of the China Section 301 tariffs.
 
This is also why, after close review of the Section 301 petition I received from five national labor unions, I have initiated a full and thorough investigation of the PRC’s longstanding efforts to dominate the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors. The unions’ petition raises serious concerns about harms to U.S. workers, the shipbuilding industry, and U.S. resilience.
 
Our economic relationship with the PRC is complex, and as the President said, we want competition with China, not conflict. 
 
But the competition must be fair, and USTR and the Biden-Harris Administration are fighting every day to put working families first, rebuild American manufacturing, and strengthen our supply chains.
 
[Senate Testimony].  [House Testimony]