WASHINGTON - Ways and Means Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Jim McDermott (D-WA) issued the following statements concerning today’s announcement that the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is requesting formation of an arbitral panel to find that Guatemala is failing to meet its obligations under the CAFTA-DR Labor Chapter:
Levin: “Democrats overwhelmingly opposed CAFTA as negotiated by the Bush administration because the standard for implementing the rights of workers was simply ‘enforce your own laws.’ We applaud the Obama administration for taking action in view of the failure of Guatemala to implement even the worker standards obligated under CAFTA as negotiated. Carrying out worker rights is of vital importance in countries with weak democratic traditions and weak middle classes."
McDermott: “Guatemala has had more than enough time to meet its CAFTA labor obligations and enforce its own labor laws. While this ‘enforce your own laws’ labor standard isn’t tough enough, I am a strong supporter of making sure our trading partners live up to their commitments. So I welcome the Obama Administration’s decision to bring this matter to dispute settlement."
