LIGHTHIZER, BRADY SQUARE OFF OVER ISDS AT WAYS & MEANS TRADE HEARING

Abstract

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on March 21 defended his approach to investor-state dispute settlement in the face of strong criticism from House Ways & Means Committee members -- including Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX), who bluntly told the USTR that Congress was his "client" in the NAFTA talks. [...]Brady added, "your client is Congress. The Trade Promotion Authority law passed in 2015 -- which the president this week asked to extend -- established investor-state dispute settlement as a negotiating objective, she said, "so not including ISDS in NAFTA would be a direct rebuke to Congress' explicit direction and could undermine critical support for a renegotiated NAFTA lacking such protections."