[CTC] Public Citizen: Investment updates in trade deals would be ‘important progress’

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Public Citizen: Investment updates in trade deals would be ‘important progress’
By Hannah Monicken, Inside US Trade
12/17/28
 
U.S. talks with Canda, Mexico and Colombia to update investment agreements and address “abuses” of the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism would mark “important progress,” an advocacy group argued on Monday, dismissing as a “tantrum” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s contention that the agency has been operating in secret.
 
The Chamber last week alleged that USTR was “secretly renegotiating <https://insidetrade.com/node/181871>” the investment protections in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement via side letters and sent two requests to the agency under the Freedom of Information Act for any related “decision memos,” documents and records.
 
While the Chamber does not say what specific provisions or issues within the investment chapters the talks are targeting, a Wall Street Journal editorial <https://www.wsj.com/opinion/joe-biden-investor-state-dispute-settlement-trade-usmca-climate-301aad22> last week – citing “sources” – said USTR was “seeking to erode investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) protections.”
 
Public Citizen, an advocacy group that pushes back against trade rules it sees as favoring corporations, welcomed the idea that USTR is working to counteract “some of the most extreme abuses of the ISDS regime,” according to a statement on Monday <https://www.citizen.org/news/chamber-of-commerce-throws-tantrum-over-modest-reform/>.
 
“The Chamber’s pearl-clutching about process and transparency is laughable, especially coming from an organization that serves the interests of the biggest corporations in the halls of power. If USTR is in fact working with partner countries to rein in some of the most extreme abuses of the ISDS regime, that would be important progress,” Melinda St. Louis, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch campaign, said in the statement.
 
Some lawmakers and a variety of civil society groups, including Public Citizen, have long decried the use of ISDS in trade agreements.
 
USTR Katherine Tai has said she does not support including ISDS in trade agreements. Earlier this year, she told the Senate Finance Committee during a hearing that USTR was “looking at this question actively right now with respect to existing ISDS provisions.”
 
In answers to questions for the record <https://insidetrade.com/node/181262> following that hearing, Tai added that the agency has “consulted with a range of stakeholders on this issue, including representatives from labor unions, environmental groups, and the business community.”
 
“I also look forward to working with you and other Members of Congress, including those on our committees of jurisdiction, to identify the best path forward with respect to ISDS provisions in our existing agreements,” she said.
 
The Chamber also accused USTR of keeping the talks from Congress until recently. House Ways & Means trade subcommittee Chair Adrian Smith (R-NE) last week said he was “troubled” by the business group’s claims <https://insidetrade.com/node/181891> that the agency could attempt to “bypass Congress.”
 
But St. Louis, in her statement, argued that Congress has delegated authority to USTR to monitor agreements and ensure “they are up to date.”
 
“Issuance of a note of interpretation like the Chamber describes is well within USTR’s authority and, in fact, is only a modest action compared to what members of Congress have repeatedly requested, which is the total elimination of ISDS corporate privileges from existing agreements,” she said.
 
“It is perfectly normal for a government to issue a note of interpretation to clarify the intent of language in a trade agreement. Indeed it is the duty of USTR to ensure our trade agreements are being enforced appropriately,” she added. “Such notes unfortunately are often ignored by tribunals, a fact that underscores the absurdity of the Chamber’s complaints.”
 
A USTR spokesperson last week declined to comment on the allegations but told Inside U.S. Trade the Chamber had previously misrepresented the administration's trade efforts.
 
“We welcome the Chamber’s newfound interest in transparency in trade negotiations [and] note its history of making inaccurate claims about USTR under the Biden-Harris Administration,” the spokesperson said.
 
Critics see ISDS as harming marginalized communities <https://insidetrade.com/node/180280> and allowing corporations to unfairly affect domestic policymaking in developing countries. The mechanism has lost favor in the U.S., on both sides of the aisle, in recent years and USMCA, notably, included only a significantly pared down version. -- Hannah Monicken (hmonicken at iwpnews.com <mailto:hmonicken at iwpnews.com>)
 
Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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