2022 Trade Policy Agenda & 2021 Annual Report

The Biden Administration recognizes that trade can––and should––be a force for good. Done right, and in coordination with other policy disciplines, it can grow the middle class, redress inequality, and level the playing field by promoting fair competition. We remain committed to upholding a fair and open global trading system – one that follows through on our trading partners’ longstanding commitment to conduct economic relations with a view to raising standards of living, ensuring full employment, and promoting sustainable development.

To realize these goals, we must take stock of what has worked and what has not. This requires us to identify and rethink aspects of the existing trading system that incentivize or enable unfair competition.

Competition in a global market provides Americans access to a wider variety of goods and services at competitive prices. But, too often our existing global trade rules have rewarded advantages that are not based on fair competition – or American values more broadly. Consumers in the global marketplace are also wage earners and producers, and members of broader communities that feel the effects of our trade policies. A trade model that promotes exploitation, whether of workers or the environment, is not efficient– it is a form of unfair competition. And it is not sustainable.

For these reasons, the Administration continues to advance its worker-centered trade policy. We are standing up for workers’ rights – but it is more than that. We are promoting a broader agenda of fair competition to ensure that workers are competing on the basis of skills and creativity, not exploitative cost advantages. We are laser-focused on working with partners and allies to chart new trade rules that do more to advance decarbonization and other critical environmental standards, support U.S. farmers, promote sustainable and resilient supply chains, and combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this approach, we can harness fair competition and support the American middle class with increased prosperity while promoting core American values.

To read the full report from the United States Trade Representative, please click here.