Resolution on Trade Promotion Authority Exposed

The Resolution on Trade Promotion Authority was approved by the Commerce, Insurance, and Economic Development Task Force at the States and Nation Policy Summit, December 15, 2001. Approved by the ALEC Board of Directors in January, 2002. Amended version approved by the ALEC Board of Directors in October 11, 2014. Where the two versions differ, original text is in strikethrough while new text is given in bold.

CMD's Bill Summary

From its 1998 resolution in support of Fast Track Trade Negotiating Authority— which was used to push a permanent normal trading relationship with China through Congress in 2000 with little discussion or debate-- to more recent resolutions in support of the proposed Colombia, Panama and Korea Free Trade Agreements, ALEC has consistently urged its members to support a radical "free trade" agenda. This free trade agenda has cost America millions of jobs as factories closed and moved overseas in search of cheaper labor. Since 2001, an estimated 2.4 million American jobs have been lost to China alone. Now a diverse array of service sector jobs, from accounting and tax preparation to health care and credit card servicing, are being off-shored under these agreements. Such free trade agreements also allow public health, consumer, environmental and worker safety rules to be challenged as "barriers to trade" in trade tribunals that operate outside the constraints of U.S. law.

ALEC has also been a major promoter of the U.S. tobacco industry, which seeks to hook new generations of smokers on their products around the world. Reynolds Tobacco was the corporate co-chair of the International Relations Task Force of ALEC. ALEC has a trade resolution specifically targeting the European Union ban on Snus, a moist tobacco product often marketed to the young with fruit flavors. Reynolds produces Camel Snus in four flavors and is not happy that this dangerous product is banned in most of Europe. Note that ALEC maintains a list of "International Delegates," which are elected government officials around the world.

ALEC Bill Text

Summary

This resolution on Trade Promotion Authority recognizes that the President of the United States should be granted trade promotion authority in order to continue job creation, economic growth, and expand economic prosperity through new trade policies.

This resolution supports the extension of trade promotion authority (TPA) to the President of the United States, and something a version of which every US President since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has had, with the latest iteration lapsing in 2007. TPA facilitates the expansion of markets and the negotiation of free trade agreements which have been shown to increase America’s export market and to be an important tool for the US President to have.

Model Resolution Policy

{Title, enacting clause, etc}

WHEREAS, Americans are deeply concerned with job creation, economic stability, and expanding economic prosperity throughout the United States, and;

WHEREAS, international trade is a critical engine of growth for the U.S. economy, as real Gross Domestic Product grew at 3.4% while U.S. exports of goods and services grew 12.7% in 2006, and;

WHEREAS, the U.S exported $1.4 $2.3 trillion in goods and services accounting for 28% 13.5 percent of our Gross Domestic Product in 2006 2013, and;

WHEREAS, studies show that post World War II trade liberalization has raised annual incomes by $1 trillion, or $9,000 $10,000 per American household, and export-related jobs pay 13 to 18 percent more than the average job, and;

WHEREAS, many of these jobs depend upon continued access to foreign markets and increased openness of those markets, and;

WHEREAS, the U.S. has implemented free trade agreements with 11 new countries since 2001 as a result of the authority granted to the President by the Trade Act of 2002

WHEREAS, U.S. exports to free trade agreement partner countries in 2006 grew by more than 26%, twice the rate of U.S. exports to the rest of the world, and;

WHEREAS, U.S. goods and services exports supported an estimated 11.3 million jobs in 2013, including 25% of all manufacturing jobs, and;

WHEREAS, the U.S. has implemented free trade agreements with 17 new countries since 2001 as a result of the authority granted to the President by the Trade Act of 2002 and 19 out of the 20 FTAs we have were passed under TPA, and;

WHEREAS, current U.S. FTA partners account for only 7% 10 percent of world GDP, but purchase 42% 40 percent of U.S. exports, and;

WHEREAS, the U.S. ran trade surpluses with its FTA partners in 2012 and 2013 compared to trade deficits averaging nearly $500 billion dollars with other countries over the same years, and;

WHEREAS, American intellectual property supports 40 million US jobs and trade agreements are an indispensable tool to secure the intellectual property rights of America’s innovative industries overseas, and;

WHEREAS, without trade promotion authority the ability of the U.S. to continue to expand and open markets around the world and to establish and enforce fair and transparent international trading rules would be seriously constrained and U.S. businesses and farmers would lose market opportunities to foreign competitors, and;

WHEREAS, from 1974, every U.S. President has received trade promotion negotiating authority from Congress,

NOW THEREFORE LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED, that the State/Commonwealth of (Insert State) urges the U.S. Congress to enact the appropriate legislation to grant the President trade promotion negotiating authority; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this Resolution be sent to each member of Congress.