Senator Warren and Representative Jayapal Urge Biden Administration to Rein in Corporate Influence Over Trade Negotiations by Rebalancing the Trade Advisory Committee System

Press Release

"The Biden administration has made a historic commitment to advancing a worker-centered trade policy, breaking from a history of bad trade deals that have offshored American jobs, undermined labor and environmental protections, and forestalled government efforts to promote competition. However, corporate lobbyists continue to fill out roughly 80 percent of the positions on Industry Trade Advisory Committees (ITACs), granting them access to secret trade negotiating text that remains hidden from the public. As your agencies continue to lead the administration's efforts to establish new trade pacts in the Indo-Pacific and the Americas, I urge you to build on the work of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to rebalance the trade advisory committee system to better reflect the interests of all stakeholders."

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

"Allowing corporate interests to continue to dominate the trade advisory committee system clearly harms workers, consumers, and small businesses. We urge your agencies to continue to rebalance membership in those committees to ensure that all Americans impacted by trade have fair representation in the trade policymaking process."

Source