Elizabeth Warren promised Monday that she would make federal trade policy more transparent and give a bigger role labor and environmental groups in setting the policy. The top contender for the Democrat’s 2020 presidential nomination said the change was intended to block corporations from setting the terms of trade.
“Our trade negotiations give special access to corporate interests before the agreement is rushed through Congress,” Warren tweeted Monday. “I’ll end this undemocratic, corrupt practice and negotiate and approve trade deals through a transparent process that offers the public a real chance to shape them.”
Warren’s proposed changes include making public all drafts of the trade agendas that U.S. negotiators use. The drafts are usually kept confidential to prevent signaling the administration’s goals and limits to trade partners during negotiations. Warren argued that this practice allows corporate lobbyists to get U.S. negotiators to pursue changes beneficial to them without the broader public knowing.
The Democratic presidential candidate also promised to place more representatives from labor, consumer and environmental groups in the government’s official policy advisory groups as well as creating additional advisory committees. “I’ll expand the current list of advisory committees to create one for consumers, one for rural areas, and one for each region of the country, so that critical voices are at the table during negotiations,” she said.
The Massachusetts senator said she would mandate that the International Trade Commission include a “region by region” analysis in its estimation of the economic impact of trade plans. She would require unanimity from all advisory committees before any trade changes could be voted on by Congress, a requirement that would likely block most proposed changes.
“I will seek expedited congressional approval of trade agreements only when every regional advisory committee and the labor, consumer, and rural advisory committees unanimously certify that the agreement serves their interests. I will also expand the list of congressional committees that must review any agreement before it is eligible for expedited consideration,” Warren said.
She said the administration would negotiate trade agreements only with countries that met basic standards for labor and human rights and do not manipulate their currency.
