[CTC] Senate can take vote to withdraw from WTO in July

Tue Jun 23 11:44:41 PDT 2020

Politico Pro

Exclusive: Senate can take vote to withdraw from WTO in July

By Doug Palmer

06/23/2020 01:44 PM EDT

The Senate parliamentarian has ruled that Sen. Josh Hawley <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/307631?source=email> (R-Mo.) is entitled to a vote on his resolution to withdraw from the World Trade Organization in late July, after the Senate returns from a two-week recess.

Kelli Ford, a spokesperson for Hawley, said the office received the communication from the parliamentarian last week.

“We are pleased that the parliamentarian has ruled that a vote on the WTO withdrawal resolution is in order," Ford said. "It’s important that the public has a chance to weigh in on this critical issue that impacts millions of jobs."

Hawley, who was elected in 2018, is one of the biggest critics in Congress of the WTO and is also a hardliner on China. His withdrawal resolution is driven by both concerns.

"The WTO has done a great job enabling China’s economic imperialism, but very little to protect American industries or the millions of jobs that have gone overseas. We should abandon the WTO and work with free nations to build a new international system that actually puts American workers first,” Hawley said in a statement provided to POLITICO.

Why it matters: The decision means senators will be forced to go on the record either in favor or against withdrawing from the WTO, which the Trump administration has frequently accused of being unfair to the United States.

Two House members, Reps. Peter DeFazio <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/51348?source=email> (D-Ore.) and Frank Pallone <https://cd.politicopro.com/member/51557?source=email> (D-N.J.), have also introduced a resolution in the lower chamber calling for withdrawal from the WTO, raising the prospect of back-to-back votes in Congress on the issue.

Hawley's push to get out of the WTO comes as the United States and the 163 other members of the organization are in midst of selecting a new director general to succeed Roberto Azevêdo, who is leaving at the end of August.

Opponents of Hawley's resolution say U.S. withdrawal from the WTO would give Beijing more influence, not less, over the global trading environment. The measure also ignores the leading role that the United States played in creating the WTO and its predecessor organization, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, those opponents say.

Critical context: A provision in the 1994 Uruguay Round Agreement Act, which approved U.S membership in the WTO, allows Congress to vote every five years on whether to stay in.

Withdrawal would only happen if both the House and the Senate approved a resolution and President Donald Trump signed it into law.

U.S. lawmakers have not voted on WTO membership since 2005, when the House defeated a withdrawal resolution 338-86. Five years earlier, a similar resolution failed by a 363-56 vote. The Senate has never voted on withdrawal.

The Republican Party has grown more suspicious of trade under Trump's leadership, potentially setting the stage for a vigorous congressional debate over continued U.S. membership.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer last week called the WTO "a mess" and said it had failed both the United States and the international trading system. He also said its current rules were inadequate to control the practices of large state-run economies like China. However, he has stopped short of calling for withdrawal from the 25-year-old trade body.

Why a ruling was needed: The 1994 URAA, which ratified the agreements that created the WTO, laid out a procedure for congressional votes on WTO withdrawal.

The process begins with the delivery of a report by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to Congress on the pros and cons of staying in the WTO. That starts a 90-day period during which members in both the House and the Senate can offer a withdrawal resolution that is guaranteed a floor vote. 

Once a resolution is introduced, the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee each have 45 days to vote on the matter. If they don't, the resolution is automatically sent to the floor for a vote.

Hawley introduced his resolution <https://subscriber.politicopro.com/legislative-compass/bill/US_116_SJRES_71?source=email> on May 7, which was roughly 47 weekdays after USTR’s Feb. 28 report. That suggested Senate Finance could sit on the report for 45 days without taking action and eat up the remaining time in the 90-day period for consideration, thereby frustrating Hawley's efforts.

But the parliamentarian ruled that the clock actually started ticking on March 5. That means the 90 days would expire sometime around July 9, when the Senate is in recess, Hawley's office said.

As a result, Hawley would be entitled to a vote on a motion to proceed to his resolution on the first day when the Senate is back from its recess, the parliamentarian ruled. If that motion succeeds, then the Senate would vote on the actual resolution, subject to certain expedited procedures, the parliamentarian said. 

What's next: It's possible that Senate proponents of remaining in the WTO could defeat Hawley's motion to proceed to a vote on his resolution, but that in itself would be an indication of where each senator stands on WTO membership.

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826

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