무역과 노동 - 미국 통상법을 중심으로 -

There is no consensus about whether linkage between trade and labor is reasonable or not. The debate is not new and will not be ended easily. We need to focus on substantive US trade laws and a social clause. The United States is probably the country that has enacted the most legislation linking trade and labour standards. Five U.S. trade laws currently condition assistance or access on respect for labour standards. Four of these laws authorize programs of trade or investment assistance, and one governs direct access to U.S. markets. The laws are Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, the Generalized System of Preference, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Agency for International Development law and Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974(as amended in 1988). Of these programmes, the GSP and Section 301 are most important tools in terms of promoting better labour standards, and will be discussed here, as they are more influential as regards other countries' trade policy than the other trade laws. The USTR has not cancelled the right for the country to be a beneficiary under the GSP because of labor rights violation since the GSP was implemented. Section 301 is qualitatively different from the other legislation because it applies to all trading partners of the United States. Consequently, it gives the office of the US Trade Representative(USTR) the authority to investigate foreign laws, policies and practices that are alleged to be unreasonable, unfair or discriminatory, and to negotiate with all the countries in question for redress, not just those receiving non-reciprocal United States-conferred trade benefits. However, there is consistent debate over whether Section 301 is consistent with principle of the WTO. A foreign government might decide not to negotiate with the U.S., let the USTR impose sanctions, and take the case to the WTO.