Bob Ney on Free Trade Republican Representative (OH-18)

Voted NO on implementing CAFTA, Central America Free Trade.

• Progressively eliminate customs duties on all originating goods traded among the participating nations
• Preserve U.S. duties on imports of sugar goods over a certain quota
• Remove duties on textile and apparel goods traded among participating nations
• Prohibit export subsidies for agricultural goods traded among participating nations
• Provide for cooperation among participating nations on customs laws and import licensing procedures
• Encourage each participating nation to adopt and enforce laws ensuring high levels of sanitation and environmental protection
• Recommend that each participating nation uphold the International Labor Organization Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
• Urge each participating nation to obey various international agreements regarding intellectual property rights

Voted YES on implementing US-Australia Free Trade Agreement.

Voted YES on implementing US-Singapore free trade agreement.

Voted YES on implementing free trade agreement with Chile.

Voted YES on withdrawing from the WTO.

Voted NO on 'Fast Track' authority for trade agreements.

Maintain anti-dumping restrictions against foreign importers.

Title: Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States Trade Representative should oppose any changes that weaken existing antidumping and safeguard laws at the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations.

Summary: Expresses the sense of Congress that:
1. renegotiation by members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) of existing antidumping and safeguard provisions contained in the GATT Antidumping Agreement is unnecessary and unlikely to result in an agreement that does not weaken the antidumping and safeguard provisions; and

2. the United States Trade Representative should oppose any changes to such provisions contained in the Antidumping Agreement at the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the WTO to be held at Doha, Qatar, from November 9-13, 2001, and at any subsequent negotiations

3. The Tarde Representative should oppose any changes that make antidumping relief under these provisions more difficult, uncertain, or costly for domestic industries to achieve and maintain over time.

Rated 56% by CATO, indicating a mixed record on trade issues.

The mission of the Cato Institute Center for Trade Policy Studies is to increase public understanding of the benefits of free trade and the costs of protectionism.

The Cato Trade Center focuses not only on U.S. protectionism, but also on trade barriers around the world. Cato scholars examine how the negotiation of multilateral, regional, and bilateral trade agreements can reduce trade barriers and provide institutional support for open markets. Not all trade agreements, however, lead to genuine liberalization. In this regard, Trade Center studies scrutinize whether purportedly market-opening accords actually seek to dictate marketplace results, or increase bureaucratic interference in the economy as a condition of market access.

Studies by Cato Trade Center scholars show that the United States is most effective in encouraging open markets abroad when it leads by example. The relative openness and consequent strength of the U.S. economy already lend powerful support to the worldwide trend toward embracing open markets. Consistent adherence by the United States to free trade principles would give this trend even greater momentum. Thus, Cato scholars have found that unilateral liberalization supports rather than undermines productive trade negotiations.

Scholars at the Cato Trade Center aim at nothing less than changing the terms of the trade policy debate: away from the current mercantilist preoccupation with trade balances, and toward a recognition that open markets are their own reward.

The following ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization's preferred position.