Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Trump warned to avoid COOL

The Republican chairman of the United States Senate agriculture committee has warned President Donald Trump to scrap any intentions to implement Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) regulations.

Trump is rumoured to want to bring back COOL as part of his promises to revamp trade agreements to make them better for Americans.

But Senator Pat Roberts from Kansas warned that the World Trade Organization could punish the U.S. for implanting COOL requirements.

“We’ve been down this road before,” Roberts said.

“We fixed the issue of COOL in 2015.

“We don’t need to go down that road again. We narrowly escaped about $4 billion … in retaliatory tariffs against the United States.

“I do not think we need a constantly changing list of key elements of a model trade agreement …,” he said of the Trump promise to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“What we need is a U.S. Trade Representative confirmed … and in place who will embark on a robust trade policy.” 

Trump is expected to soon sign two new executive orders, one that would require the review of all existing trade deals and the other to review and change government purchasing policies.