Duncan Hollis reports reports that the American Society for International Law (ASIL) is surveying the Presidential candidates on their positions on 14 international law issues: ASIL, Presidential Candidates & International Law (Opinio Juris, Dec 14).
Three questions deal explicitly with trade questions:
- What would be your administration’s international trade policy?
- Would you seek any modification of existing trade agreements?
- What would be your approach to the WTO and future global trade talks?
Four candidates (Clinton, Obama, Edwards, and Kucinich) have answered so far. As a bonus, one of the commenters lists the international law advisors for five campaigns.
The answers are short. There's not a lot of detail; the candidates focus on their key message points. So where does, for example, Obama stand:
- What would be your administration's international trade policy?
I would ensure that trade agreements include strong and enforceable labor and environmental standards. Companies operating overseas must not gain a competitive advantage by exploiting workers or the environment. But merely adding words to the core of our trade agreements is not enough. We must enforce our agreements through the World Trade Organization and other existing mechanisms and pressure our trading partners to end unfair government subsidies to foreign exporters, non-tariff barriers on U.S. exports, and artificially devalued currency, like China's, that puts U.S. companies at a perpetual disadvantage. As President, my trade policy will open foreign markets to create and support good American jobs. - Would you seek any modification of existing trade agreements?
I believe the absence of labor and environmental standards in NAFTA was a mistake. We should build upon NAFTA to make it work better for workers. - What would be your approach to the WTO and future global trade talks?
As president, my trade policy and practices will open foreign markets to create and support good American jobs. Negotiating trade agreements that open new markets can be helpful, but these agreements must contain appropriate labor and environmental standards. And they must be vigorously enforced.
We need a trade policy that makes the pie bigger - as big as possible - and we need to make sure Americans are positioned to win as large a share of that growing pie as they can. Looking forward, the keys to winning this competition are making long-term investments in areas like education and science and technology.
And we have a responsibility to help the American workers who are hurt by rapid advances in technology and by the dislocation that trade can bring. We need to get smarter and more serious about how we can use a range of policy tools that directly help the affected workers, like retraining, unemployment insurance and adjustment assistance.
The post also a new ASIL website on candidates statements on international law (including trade law) issues: International Law 2008 .
hat tip: International Economic Law and Policy Blog .
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