What response should the international community make to policies that affront the set of standards it articulates?
First, any response ought be authorized and implemented multilaterally, in order to increase the odds that the intervention will be effective. Second, there should be a menu of potential responses to labor standard abuses, varying in both the nature and severity of their effects. This range could include technical assistance to clear the path to improvement, so-called “sunshine” provisions in order to highlight abuses, perhaps ineligibility for international grant and loan programs, and targeted trade measures. Obviously, the purpose of any intervention must be to bring about change in the offending nations. We must be pragmatic, and must not lose sight of the fact that trade itself by opening an economy to external influences and empowering a wider range of internal interests can be a catalyst for progressive change. Developing a detailed program for advancing international labor conditions will occupy us for many years. And the Administration is very much concerned that it work with
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