Commerce Committee Chairman Introduces Resolution to Withdraw From WTO

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., want the U.S. to withdraw from the World Trade Organization. If their resolution, and the resolution introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., were to pass before the deadline set up in the agreement that founded the WTO, and Trump either signed it, or they overrode his veto, the U.S. would exit the institution. “It is time for the United States to withdraw from this institution and start prioritizing American workers over international corporations,” Pallone said in a press release.

The pair introduced the resolution May 12. The deadline is 90 weekdays from Feb. 28, but there are extra days added when the House was in recess for three days or more.

“The WTO has been a disaster for the United States. With millions of jobs exported, ballooning trade deficits, and the erosion of U.S. sovereignty, the WTO has a 25-year track record of putting the profits of multinational corporations above the interests of American workers,” DeFazio said. “COVID-19 has exposed how the hemorrhaging of U.S. jobs, particularly manufacturing jobs, to China and other countries has significantly undermined our ability to respond to the global pandemic. The United States needs to withdraw from the WTO to strengthen and protect our manufacturing base, public health and safety, industry and jobs, U.S. sovereignty, and the environment.”

DeFazio and Pallone said they voted for a withdrawal back in 2005, the last time the House took a vote on the matter, which was defeated, 338-86. Debate before the vote revealed that every member of the House Ways and Means Committee, the committee of jurisdiction for the WTO, opposed the exit.