Trade was in focus Thursday as U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai delivered remarks on trade to two different groups, and the ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee Kevin Brady, R-Texas, also offered up his views on trade issues, with the two focusing on different areas. Tai spoke to the Center for American Progress and laid out a view that climate has to become a component in global trade policy.
"For too long, the traditional trade community has resisted the view that trade policy is a legitimate tool in helping to solve the climate crisis," Tai remarked. "That dated line of thinking only perpetuates the chasm that exists between the lived experiences -- and expectations -- of real people on the one hand, and trade experts on the other."
She said the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) should serve as a template ahead even as she called it a "glaring omission" in the trade deal she helped move through Congress that it does not explicitly mention climate change.
Meanwhile, Brady told the Center for Strategic and International Studies that the U.S. needs to get off the sidelines on trade, a reference to the Biden administration signaling they are not focused on negotiating new trade deals. "I believe the first step is to renew without delay Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which for all practical purposes, has already expired. Every president of any party should have this important tool," Brady said.
He chided the administration for not giving any indication of completing trade negotiations started under the Trump administration with the UK, Kenya and Japan.
He also criticized the administration for as of yet not asking Congress to renew TPA, which officials like USDA's Vilsack have said is coming. The global minimum tax proposal floated by the Biden administration was also rejected by Brady. "There is a lot of concern on Capitol Hill that we will be party to negotiations that ultimately are a revenue grab on American companies, but more importantly would surrender America's tax base to our foreign global competitors," Brady said.