Rep. Levin Urges Congressional Action on South Korea Free Trade Agreement

Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee and an important voice on trade issues, says the Obama administration should to send draft implementing legislation on the recently re-negotiated South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement to Congress immediately, even if it fails to reach an accommodation with the GOP leadership after consultations.

Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee and an important voice on trade issues, says the Obama administration should to send draft implementing legislation on the recently re-negotiated South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement to Congress immediately, even if it fails to reach an accommodation with the GOP leadership after consultations. "Congress should approve the U.S.-Korea free trade agreement before Memorial Day," Levin said recently.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk should send the draft implementing bill to Congress "immediately" and request that the Ways and Means Committee undertake an expeditious review and voluntary "mock markup," Levin said. After a "reasonable period" for consultations, the administration should formally send the implementing bill forward, he added. "It would pass," he told reporters after a recent speech in Washington.

House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) has repeatedly urged the administration to move forward on all three pending trade agreements — with Korea, Colombia, and Panama — to allow congressional consideration by July 1. The FTAs, which have been stalled for several years, were all negotiated by the Bush administration. The Korea FTA has become entangled in the delay surrounding the other two pacts.

On a different subject, Levin said he believes the Obama administration should file a case with the WTO against China for its artificial exchange rate policies. He said the United States needs to take a leadership role to ensure that issues such as currency manipulation and environmental abuses are addressed globally.

"I know those [WTO] articles have never been used for this but on issues like currency, workers rights, environmental issues ... we need to push it and not accept the old notion that things will work out in the wash," Levin said.

How to address Beijing's artificial exchange rate policy has been an ongoing question for U.S. officials. Levin is an outspoken proponent of having Congress enact new laws to compel China to let the yuan appreciate faster, though the White House prefers making the case to Chinese leaders behind closed doors and in diplomatic negotiations. 

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