U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Statement on Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act Conference Report

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin today released the following statement regarding the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act Conference Report:

“I support final passage of this conference report, but I believe we should have done better. I voted for the conference report for this bipartisan trade enforcement legislation because it has a number of reforms that are priorities for me and important to our Made in Wisconsin manufacturing economy, including Buy American provisions and taking on China’s cheating by improving enforcement of antidumping and countervailing duty orders. Wisconsin manufacturers must be able to compete on a level playing field with our foreign competitors.

“However, I believe this legislation falls far short in taking on China’s currency manipulation and that is why I voted against cloture. I also have concerns that this bill did not include a pro-growth reform that could provide the state of Wisconsin with an estimated $95 million in revenue. The Marketplace Fairness Act would level the playing field for Wisconsin small businesses and allow local brick-and-mortar retailers to compete more effectively against out-of-state Internet sellers. I’m pleased that there is commitment from the Majority Leader to bring this bipartisan reform to the floor this year so we can strengthen Wisconsin small business and provide our state with much needed revenue to grow our economy.

“While some will use this vote as an excuse to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), I will not. I believe this is another unfair trade deal that stacks the deck against Wisconsin workers. The people of Wisconsin deserve more than the same failed promises from unfair trade deals that lead to job losses. Any deal that does not help level the playing field for the American worker will not have my support—from currency manipulation to state-owned enterprises to labor standards, American workers shouldn’t be put at a disadvantage by unfair trade deals that rig the game against our Made in America economy.”