United States-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. NEAL. I thank the gentleman from Michigan for the nice words of introduction.

Mr. Speaker, the U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreement is an example of how to do a trade agreement right. This agreement will improve the U.S. trade surplus, emphasis on the word surplus, with Panama, and help with U.S. job creation and economic growth. And thanks to the FTA, Panama has brought its labor laws up to international standards and addressed Panama's status as a tax haven.

Let's start with economics. In Massachusetts, which exported a total of over $8 billion worth of merchandise in 2010, the total number of jobs created in my district supported by exports is over 26,000.

New exports help to support new jobs, and that's why I support the Panamanian free trade agreement. Panama is one of the fastest growing economies in Latin America. This FTA will eliminate tariffs and other barriers to U.S.

[Page: H6806]

exports, promote economic growth, and expand trade between our two countries.

For example, most goods from Panama currently enter the U.S. duty-free, whereas U.S. exporters face import duties in Panama ranging from 5 to over 35 percent. This FTA will level the playing field by eliminating Panama's import duties on U.S. goods. As a result, U.S. passenger vehicle exports are expected to increase by 43 percent, and machinery exports are expected to increase by 14 percent.

Furthermore, Panama is currently free to discriminate against U.S. suppliers in government procurement, including the ongoing $5.25 billion Panama Canal expansion project. The FTA will require Panama to treat U.S. suppliers the same as Panamanian suppliers. There is going to be an explosion of opportunity with the opening of the Panama Canal after its expansion.

Now let's go to labor rights. Over the course of several years, House Democrats, myself included, have identified a variety of deficiencies in Panama's labor laws, and we insisted that the Panamanian FTA not be considered until those issues were addressed. In April of this year, Panama's President signed into law the last remaining changes needed to bring Panamanian laws into compliance with labor obligations of this agreement.

Furthermore, when we took the majority in 2007, House Democrats insisted that the FTA be negotiated or renegotiated to include the May 10 agreement. Among other things, the FTA was renegotiated to require Panama to comply with international labor standards and key international environmental agreements. Labor rights, environmental concerns, human rights. We insisted that those be undertaken, and we were told at one time that the agreement offered had to be all or nothing. House Democrats changed that with our insistence on those basic issues.

Now let me highlight how Panama has addressed its tax haven issue. And I would submit to you today there is no Member of this House that has a stronger credential on cracking down on tax havens than I do. I have stayed at it through the course of a career, and we've had some success, with more guaranteed to come.

In 2000 the OECD listed Panama as a tax haven, but since that time, Panama has worked to adopt international standards of transparency and effective exchange of information. In 2010, the U.S. and Panama entered into a tax information exchange agreement, and this past July the OECD placed Panama on its white list of countries who have substantially implemented international standards for exchange information. These are substantial advancements.

This would not have been possible without Democrats in this House who insisted that the FTA not be submitted to Congress until the tax haven issue was addressed. This FTA is a better agreement because House Democrats insisted on those basic human rights issues.

There is no question but labor agreements, human rights agreements, and environmental agreements have been included because of work that the minority in the House has done. And at the same time, we understand that these trade agreements are not necessarily panaceas. But by and large, the ones that I know that I've supported over a career, and some I've opposed, have had a net impact on economic growth.

These are very difficult issues for Members of this body to undertake. But we argue that the genius of opportunity is what Steve Jobs promoted through much of his life, with many setbacks along the way. But understand that many of the products that Steve Jobs and his genius succeeded in implementing ensure that people across the globe use those products today, and I think this an example of those opportunities.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source