An Open Letter to Progressives: TPP Is Not Yet 'The Most Progressive Trade Agreement in History'

Eight years ago, Charlie Rangel and I worked with our House Democratic colleagues to co-author what became known as the "May 10th Agreement" on labor and environmental standards in trade agreements. For the first time, fully enforceable labor and environmental standards would be placed into our trade agreements on equal footing with every other commercial provision. May 10th also included important provisions on medicines, investment, and government procurement. U.S. trade agreements with Peru, Panama, Colombia, and Korea were re-negotiated to include May 10th.

After decades of leading the fight to include worker rights provisions in trade agreements, I considered at the time, and still do today, May 10th to be a major breakthrough. House Democrats brought about these historic changes, so we have some standing to evaluate their implementation.

So I have deep concern -- and some dismay -- when the president says that "we are just wrong," or we are "satisfied with the status quo," or worse, we are "making this stuff up" when we express concerns about the status of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations.

House Democrats know a progressive trade agreement when we see it because we are the ones who built the foundation. We think the TPP agreement, as it stands today, falls short of what is needed. And we don't want to give up our leverage by granting "fast-track" authority until we know that TPP is on the right track.

Since the May 10th provisions are the basis for which the administration declares TPP to be "the most progressive trade agreement in history," let me give you a few examples of how TPP is still falling short:

1. In the case of our trade agreements with Peru, Panama, and Colombia, their labor laws were changed to come into compliance with International Labor Organization (ILO) standards before the Congress voted. I know this because we negotiated directly with the countries on the provisions that fell short of international standards. Charlie Rangel, Allyson Schwartz, and I traveled to Peru in the summer before Congress voted to acknowledge the fact that they had brought their laws into compliance. I remember vividly Peruvian President Garcia calling this a "New Deal" for trade agreements. We have no such assurance with Vietnam or Mexico in regards to TPP.

I think my record on trade is pretty clear -- I support trade agreements when they are done right.

I am not "some folks [who] think we should just withdraw and not even try to engage in trade with these countries." I am not someone who wants to let China write the rules, since I authored the amendments to China PNTR that shaped China's entry into the World Trade Organization only to see the Bush administration fail to enforce them. And I am not someone that thinks "we pull up the drawbridge and build a moat around ourselves" or "stand on the beach and stop the global economy at our shores."

Those statements by the president don't describe our work to improve and vote for trade agreements, or the position of the vast majority of House Democrats.

I certainly don't question the president's commitment to the middle class and to strengthening the U.S. economy. I have stood proudly by him as he saved the domestic auto industry, stabilized a collapsing economy, and signed the Affordable Care Act.

I would urge in the coming weeks that the administration not question the commitment of Democrats to build a better trade policy. TPA is in trouble because TPP is not yet on the right track. I, for one, would grant the president the authority to finalize a trade agreement once I am far more certain it is the best deal we can get.

I agree with the president when he says "we've got to make sure that the trade deals that we do shape are ones that allow us to compete fairly."

TPP, as it stands right now, is not yet the most progressive trade agreement in history. We still have work to do. And, I hope we can re-focus our efforts on getting it done right.

Sincerely,

Rep. Sander Levin