Comer, Palmer Investigate the Biden Administration’s Last-Ditch Effort to Strip Investor Protections from Free Trade Agreements

WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) are investigating the Biden Administration’s politically-motivated efforts to remove essential investor protections for U.S. companies from free trade agreements. Recent reports indicate that the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is working rapidly to withdraw these necessary investor protections in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) without consulting Congress or impacted stakeholders. Chairman Comer and Rep. Palmer are requesting an immediate briefing with USTR to ask why the Biden Administration is attempting to strip trade protections for American businesses.

“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (Committee) is conducting oversight of the Office of the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) actions to remove investor protections from free trade agreements.  Specifically, the Committee has become aware of USTR’s efforts to renegotiate investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA),” wrote Chairman Comer and Rep. Palmer. “We request a briefing to understand the consultation process utilized by USTR leading to its decision to renegotiate investment protections for U.S. companies.”

United Nations activists and some Congressional Democrats argue that investor protections pose a threat to the environment and human rights. However, USTR’s removal of investor protections will instead severely undercut the ability of U.S. companies to protect themselves in disputes with foreign countries and will signal weakness to foreign governments. The Oversight Committee is committed to ensuring that U.S. interests are prioritized and American businesses are protected.

“We are aware that there are Democrats in Congress who sympathize with the assessment of the United Nations’ rapporteur on human rights and the environment that investor protections are a “major obstacle to the urgent actions needed to address the planetary environmental and human rights crises.”  However, ISDS protections benefit U.S. companies and USTR’s mission is to advance U.S. interests. Your office’s actions threaten the interests of U.S. businesses and signal to foreign governments that the U.S. governments will not stand up for them,” continued Chairman Comer and Rep. Palmer.

Read the letter to United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai here.

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