On August 6, 2002, George W. Bush signed into law Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), allowing the administration to negotiate trade agreements that cannot be amended by U.S. Congress, simply voted up or down. Armed with TPA, the U.S. government is rushing to conclude free trade agreements with Chile and Singapore, moving ahead with FTAA talks, and proposing negotiations with Central America, Morocco and Australia, among others.

TPA sets out negotiating objectives that require free trade accords to protect workers' rights. For example, TPA backers in Congress publicly stated that the legislation "fully reflect[s] the standard set forth in the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement." An agreement that meets the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement standard must require parties to enforce their labor laws, to try to ensure that those laws meet international norms, and to try not to lower labor standards to attract trade. Labor rights protections must be included in the body of the agreement and be enforced with the same penalties as all other provisions-with fines and, as a last resort, trade sanctions.

"It is critical that the same remedies be available for the violation of labor rights as for other provisions of the agreement. Only then will they be taken seriously," said Pier.

The U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement model should be further strengthened in future agreements by mandating that countries' labor laws meet international standards and by establishing independent oversight bodies to receive complaints from interested third parties and levy adequate penalties.