Levin, McDermott, Rangel, and Waxman Announce Briefing on the 5-Year Anniversary of the “May 10 Agreement” on Trade

Documents

Ranking Member Waxman's Remarks, as prepared for delivery, May 10, 2012

Release

After Members provide opening remarks, a panel will discuss the “May 10 Agreement.”  The panelists will include:

•          Stephanie Burgos, Senior Policy Advisor, Oxfam America

•          Thea Lee, Deputy Chief of Staff, AFL-CIO

•          Leah L. Summers, Esq., Vice President, International Affairs, Mylan Inc.

•          Sascha Von Bismarck, Executive Director, Environmental Investigation Agency

BACKGROUND:

House Democrats achieved a major breakthrough in U.S. trade policy on May 10, 2007.  For well over a decade, going back to the debates over the North American Free Trade Agreement in the early 1990s, House Democrats had been fighting to include strong and enforceable labor and environmental standards in U.S. free trade agreements, and, more recently, to ensure a balance between incentivizing innovation and providing access to affordable medicines in developing countries.

When Democrats retook the House majority in 2007, the Bush Administration finally acquiesced to these demands. The four free trade agreements that had already been concluded by the Bush Administration were reopened and renegotiated to make these fundamental changes.

These changes were critical to developing a new trade policy that seeks to spread the benefits of trade more broadly and that better reflects American values.  This anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect upon the historic “May 10 Agreement.”

Related Documents: 

Statement of Rep. Henry Waxman on the May 10 Agreement on Trade (May 10, 2012).