International Trade
An Analysis of Free Trade Agreements and Congressional and Private Sector Consultations under Trade Promotion Authority
GAO-08-59, Dec 7, 2007
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Congress granted the President Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) to negotiate agreements, including free trade agreements (FTA) in 2002. TPA stipulated negotiating objectives and procedural steps for the administration, including consulting with Congress and trade advisory committees. TPA lapsed in July 2007 amidst questions about its use. GAO was asked to review: (1) What FTAs have been pursued under TPA and why? (2) Overall, what is the economic significance of these agreements for the United States? (3) What is the nature of the consultation process for Congress and how well has it worked in practice? (4) What is the nature of the consultation process for trade advisory committees, and how well has it worked in practice? GAO interviewed staff of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the International Trade Commission (ITC), congressional committees with jurisdiction, trade advisory committees, and others, and reviewed USTR documents.
In the 5-year period thatTPA was granted to the President, from 2002-2007, the United States pursued 17 FTAs with 47 countries for a variety of foreign and economic policy reasons. Six FTAs have been approved and are in force, and negotiations for another 4 FTAs have been concluded. The United States has simultaneously pursued comprehensive, high-standard trade agreements on the bilateral and multilateral levels. Trade with countries for which FTAs were pursued under TPA comprises about 16 percent of U.S. trade and foreign direct investment. Twenty-seven percent of U.S. trade is with countries with FTAs in force prior to TPA (e.g., Canada and Mexico); 56 percent is with countries with which the United States does not have FTAs. The largest U.S. trade partners not pursued under TPA are the European Union, Japan, and China; the rest account for relatively small shares of U.S. trade. USTR held 1,605 consultations with congressional committee staff from August 2002 through April 2007, but satisfaction with the consultations was mixed. About two-thirds of these meetings were with the House and Senate trade and agriculture committees. Almost all the congressional staff GAO contacted viewed the consultations as providing good information, but slightly more than half said that they did not provide opportunities for real input or influence. These staff often said that they were not given sufficient time to provide meaningful input. The trade advisory committee chairs GAO contacted said that USTR and managing agencies consulted with their committees fairly regularly, although process issues at times hindered some from functioning effectively. For example, about half said that the 30-day deadline for reporting on the likely impact of FTAs can be difficult to meet, and the ITC had a similar problem. In addition, adherence to statutory representation requirements is not always transparent. Several committees have not been able to meet while their charters were expired, or members had not been reappointed. However, USTR and managing agencies are not required to report to Congress such lapses in a committee's ability to meet.
Status Legend:
Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
- In Process
- Open
- Closed - implemented
- Closed - not implemented
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: To assure Congress that it is receiving the private sector advisory opinions that it intended in the Trade Act of 1974, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Labor should work with the U.S. Trade Representative to notify Congress if a committee is unable to meet for more than 3 months due to an expired charter or a delay in the member appointment process.
Agency Affected: Department of Labor
Status: Open
Comments: GAO is monitoring agency actions to implement the recommendation.
Recommendation: To assure Congress that it is receiving the private sector advisory opinions that it intended in the Trade Act of 1974, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Labor should work with the U.S. Trade Representative to notify Congress if a committee is unable to meet for more than 3 months due to an expired charter or a delay in the member appointment process.
Agency Affected: Department of Labor
Status: Open
Comments: GAO is monitoring agency actions to implement the recommendation.
Recommendation: To assure Congress that it is receiving the private sector advisory opinions that it intended in the Trade Act of 1974, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Labor should work with the U.S. Trade Representative to start the advisory committee rechartering and member appointment processes with sufficient time to avoid any lapse in the ability to hold committee meetings.
Agency Affected: Department of Agriculture
Status: Closed - Implemented
Comments: USDA reported in July 2011 that the six Agriculture Technical Advisory Committee (ATAC) Charters and the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee (APAC) Charter were renewed in a timely fashion on June 9, 2011, within 3 days after they expired, and that the committees are operational for the purposes of providing consultation and advice. The renewal of the charters was sufficiently timely so as to avoid any lapse in committee meetings. The Federal Advisory Committees database also shows that the ATAC and APAC charters have been updated as of August 2011.
Recommendation: To provide transparency and accountability to the composition of the trade advisory committees, the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor should work with the U.S. Trade Representative to annually report publicly on how they meet the representation requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the Trade Act of 1974, including clarifying which interest members represent in a manner similar to the Department of Commerce and explaining how they determined which representatives they placed on committees.
Agency Affected: Department of Agriculture
Status: Closed - Implemented
Comments: In our November 2007 report, International Trade: An Analysis of Free Trade Agreements and Congressional and Private Sector Consultations under Trade Promotion Authority, we recommended that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) work with the Departments of Agriculture and Labor to annually report publicly on how they meet the representation requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and the Trade Act of 1974, including clarifying which interest trade advisory committee members represent in a manner similar to the Department of Commerce. At the time, a member's place of employment was listed in the public FACA database, but particularly in cases where that happened to be a law firm, large company, etc., it was impossible to tell from that information alone what interest a specific member represented. In response, USTR and the Department of Agriculture began to include a "Represented Group" column in the FACA database for members of the Agricultural Technical Advisory Committees (ATACs) as well as the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee (APAC).
Recommendation: To provide transparency and accountability to the composition of the trade advisory committees, the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor should work with the U.S. Trade Representative to annually report publicly on how they meet the representation requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the Trade Act of 1974, including clarifying which interest members represent in a manner similar to the Department of Commerce and explaining how they determined which representatives they placed on committees.
Agency Affected: Department of Labor
Status: Closed - Implemented
Comments: In our November 2007 report, International Trade: An Analysis of Free Trade Agreements and Congressional and Private Sector Consultations under Trade Promotion Authority, we recommended that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) work with the Departments of Agriculture and Labor to annually report publicly on how they meet the representation requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and the Trade Act of 1974, including clarifying which interest trade advisory committee members represent in a manner similar to the Department of Commerce. At the time, a member's place of employment was listed in the public FACA database, but particularly in cases where that happened to be a law firm, large company, etc., it was impossible to tell from that information alone what interest a specific member represented. In response, USTR and the Department of Labor began to include a "Represented Group" column in the FACA database for members of the Labor Advisory Committee (LAC).
Recommendation: To promote greater efficiency in trade advisory committee function, the Secretary of Labor should work with the U.S. Trade Representative to extend the Labor Advisory Committee charter from 2 years to 4 years, to be in alignment with the rest of the trade advisory committee system.
Agency Affected: Department of Labor
Status: Closed - Implemented
Comments: In our November 2007 report, International Trade: An Analysis of Free Trade Agreements and Congressional and Private Sector Consultations under Trade Promotion Authority, we recommended that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the Department of Labor extend the Labor Advisory Committee charter from 2 years to 4 years, to be in alignment with the rest of the trade advisory committee system. USTR concurred with this recommendation. In May 2008, USTR and the Department of Labor renewed the Labor Advisory Committee charter and extended it from 2 years to 4 years in length.
Recommendation: To provide transparency and accountability to the composition of the trade advisory committees, the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor should work with the U.S. Trade Representative to annually report publicly on how they meet the representation requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the Trade Act of 1974, including clarifying which interest members represent in a manner similar to the Department of Commerce and explaining how they determined which representatives they placed on committees.
Agency Affected: Department of Commerce
Status: Open
Comments: GAO is monitoring agency actions to implement the recommendation.
Recommendation: To facilitate better consultations with Congress, the U.S. Trade Representative should work together with Congress on ways to improve access to information prior to consultation meetings, such as through security clearances, so that congressional staff can better assess the status of negotiations and provide advice to USTR.
Agency Affected: Executive Office of the President: Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Status: Open
Comments: GAO is monitoring agency actions to implement the recommendation.
Recommendation: To facilitate better consultations with Congress, the U.S. Trade Representative should take steps to reach agreement with the committees of jurisdiction on the amount of time they need to receive information in advance of consultation meetings in order to afford them better opportunity for meaningful input.
Agency Affected: Executive Office of the President: Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Status: Open
Comments: GAO is monitoring agency actions to implement the recommendation.
Recommendation: To assure Congress that it is receiving the private sector advisory opinions that it intended in the Trade Act of 1974, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Labor should work with the U.S. Trade Representative to start the advisory committee rechartering and member appointment processes with sufficient time to avoid any lapse in the ability to hold committee meetings.
Agency Affected: Department of Labor
Status: Open
Comments: GAO is monitoring agency actions to implement the recommendation.
Recommendations for Congressional Consideration
Recommendation: To assist the U.S. Trade Representative and the other agencies in improving the operations and input of the trade advisory committees, Congress may wish to consider extending the reporting deadlines for the trade advisory committees and the ITC by 15 days, giving them 45 days and 195 days, respectively.
Agency Affected: Congress
Status: Open
Comments: GAO is following any Congressional actions related to this recommendation.