Following is the text of the senators' letter:

October 1, 2001

The Honorable Robert B. Zoellick
United States Trade Representative
600 17th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20008

Dear Ambassador Zoellick:

We write to express our strong concern about the Draft Ministerial Declaration issued last week by the Chairman of the WTO General Council, along with the Chairman's Draft Decision on Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns. The Chairman's Drafts, if adopted by the WTO, would open the door to a weakening of the agreements on antidumping and subsidies rules. We must not permit this.

In particular, paragraph 24 of the Draft Declaration calls for "negotiations aimed at clarifying and improving disciplines under the existing [Antidumping Agreement and Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures]." Regrettably, for many countries, "clarifying and improving" really means weakening. This is made plain by the various measures proposed to be undertaken under the guise of "implementation." These proposed measures, set forth in Annex II to the Draft Decision on Implementation, would unnecessarily restrict the ability of the United States to use WTO-consistent tools to address unfair trade practices. As you know, U.S. trade remedy laws already are under assault in the WTO. Over the past year, we have lost a number of key disputes challenging our antidumping law, our countervailing duty law, and our safeguards law. The Chairman's Drafts would allow other countries to continue by negotiation what they have begun to do by litigation. If anything, our focus should be on rolling back some of the dispute-settlement decisions in these areas, not exacerbating the problems they engendered.

You will recall that last spring 63 Senators sent you a letter setting out a bright line when it comes to trade remedy laws. Simply put, these laws must not be weakened in future negotiations. We are confident that this objective will be firmly embedded in whatever fast track legislation eventually passes the Congress. We strongly urge you to demonstrate your commitment to that objective now, by opposing any language in the Chairman's Drafts that would run counter to that objective.

We are at a critical juncture, both for fast track and for the upcoming WTO Ministerial. In both endeavors, it is important that we stand by our core principles, one of which is preserving the integrity of our trade remedy laws. We will be following this matter very closely over the weeks leading up to the Ministerial and hope that you will keep us informed of any and all developments.

Sincerely,

Max Baucus
Jay Rockefeller
Jeff Bingaman