USTR Ron Kirk - Obama Administration Wants Climate Laws To Be WTO-Compliant - Reuters

[hatrack]

Whew! I was worried there for a second! What a relief! :eyes:

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration wants to ensure that legislation being crafted by Congress to fight global climate change does not violate international trade rules and backfire on US exports, the top US trade official said in a letter to a Republican lawmaker. The letter from US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, released late on Tuesday, was in response to questions Rep. Joe Barton raised about Energy Secretary Stephen Chu's recent suggestion that the United States may need to impose a border tax on Chinese goods.

Despite Chu's comment, the administration "does not support any specific measures, including border measures, at this time" to address concerns about the climate bill relating to trade, Kirk told Barton, the top Republican on the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee.

Many energy-intensive US industries, such as steel, are worried that proposed new taxes on carbon emissions could cripple their competitiveness if developing country rivals such as China and India do not take similar steps to cut their own greenhouse gas emissions.

President Barack Obama has made passing climate change legislation a top priority. House Democrats have proposed a bill that would cut US carbon emissions 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and also help industries that would struggle to meet the proposed requirements. In addition to fears about potential US job losses, there are concerns about carbon "leakages" from one country to another if all major emitters do not agree to make cuts. Last month, Chu told the Energy and Commerce Committee the United States may need to raise import duties on China to maintain a level playing field because "we don't want to disadvantage our industries at home."

EDIT

http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/52449

[ananda]

1. Fuck the WTO.

Do what's right.