BILL REQ. #:  S-0940.2 

Read first time 02/05/09.   Referred to Committee on Economic Development, Trade & Innovation.

     TO THE HONORABLE BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO AMBASSADOR RONALD KIRK, UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, The economic prosperity of the United States is best served by embracing free and fair trade in global markets, investing in innovative research and technologies, and providing assistance to workers impacted by technology and trade trends; and
     WHEREAS, Expanding trade opportunities for American workers and businesses depends on cooperation between the federal government and the states; and
     WHEREAS, The trade liberalization efforts of the early 1990s and trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization Uruguay Round agreements have increased the role of state policymakers in international trade decisions; and
     WHEREAS, Trade liberalization has transformed the historical state-federal division of power and taxed state agency resources in dealing with the world marketplace; and
     WHEREAS, Recent trade agreements have proceeded beyond discussion of tariffs and quotas and now address government regulation, taxation, procurement, and economic development policies that are implemented at state and local levels; and
     WHEREAS, States often lack a clearly defined institutional trade policy structure, making it difficult to handle requests from trading partners and federal agencies and to articulate a unified state stance on trade issues; and
     WHEREAS, International lawsuits may be brought against states and governments found to be in violation of trade agreements; and
     WHEREAS, The State of Washington has inadvertently become involved in international trade disputes involving the biodiesel and aerospace industries; and
     WHEREAS, There is a need for a stronger federal-state trade policy consultation mechanism; and
     WHEREAS, Many state and local executive, legislative, and judicial branch officials have voiced the need for an informed, nonpartisan trade policy dialogue on a national level; and
     WHEREAS, Federal-state communication and cooperation in the implementation of trade agreements is needed now more than ever before; and
     WHEREAS, The Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee, a state-appointed advisory committee to the United States Trade Representative, plays an important role in providing state input to the United States Trade Representative but is limited by an inability to share classified information with relevant state officials and members of the public; and
     WHEREAS, Compartmentalization of information within the Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee prevents members from gathering important and relevant information from those state officials and members of the public; and
     WHEREAS, Even in states with Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee representation, the actions of state regulators often affect or implicate international trade without a consistent way for those state regulators to receive or offer information on some trade issues because of the Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee's compartmentalization; and
     WHEREAS, In August 2004, the Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee recommended that a Federal-State International Trade Policy Commission would be an ideal resource for objective trade policy analysis and would foster communication among federal and state trade policy officials; and
     WHEREAS, The creation of a federal-state trade policy infrastructure would assist states in understanding the scope of federal trade efforts, would assist federal agencies in understanding the various state trade processes, and would give states meaningful input in the United States Trade Representative's activities;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully request that the United States Trade Representative create a Federal-State International Trade Policy Commission with information sharing capacity and membership to be drawn from federal and state trade policy officials; and also respectfully request that Congress allocate sufficient funds to the Federal-State International Trade Policy Commission to allow it to analyze trade data, communicate with the states and state regulators, foster consultations during negotiations, and work with trading partners.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States, the Ambassador Ronald Kirk, United States Trade Representative, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.