NAFTA Injury Panel Decision

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
SENATE
Oct. 5, 2004

NAFTA INJURY PANEL DECISION

Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I concur with my colleague that the integrity of the NAFTA panel system has been put into serious doubt as a result of the recent panel decision in the softwood lumber case. When NAFTA panels prevent appropriate enforcement of the U.S. trade laws, the public will cease supporting our participation in NAFTA. It is simply unacceptable for a NAFTA panel to dictate the outcome of an investigation to any U.S. court or agency. That is not the purpose of a NAFTA panel. Such authority was not granted by the U.S. Congress to the NAFTA, the WTO, or any other foreign organization.

Congress approved the NAFTA based on its understanding that effective trade remedies would not be eroded. Preservation of these remedies is essential to the overall process of opening foreign markets to imports of goods and services and to prevent harm to American industry and agriculture. Popular support for the principles of free trade and the NAFTA as a whole will be weakened if the dispute settlement system is continually misused to overturn legitimate agency decisions.

In my view, it is essential that future NAFTA panel decisions are carefully scrutinized by Congress. With respect to the seriously flawed NAFTA panel decision in the softwood lumber case, I believe the U.S. Government must pursue an Extraordinary Challenge Committee appeal in order to restore the rights of the American industry and its workers.