Wellstone Stood up for American Jobs and the Environment and Opposed NAFTA
Citing the anticipated loss of American jobs and the lack of environmental protections in the agreement, Paul Wellstone opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Wellstone Stood Up for Fair Trade and Opposed the Passage of GATT/WTO
Paul Wellstone opposed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The trade accord created the World Trade Organization and allows it to undercut U.S. sovereignty by allowing panels of foreign judges to rule on whether federal and state laws constitute impermissible impediments to trade.

Wellstone Fought for Measures to Promote Fair Trade
These included bills or amendments:

• Requiring that trade benefits be provided in accordance with a country's compliance with internationally-recognized labor standards
• Denying trade benefits to countries which failed to meet child labor standards
• Prohibiting the selling of dumped or subsidized merchandise if it threatened U.S. industry
• Ensuring that corporations and countries respect the rights of employees, the environment, and American workers
• Prohibiting food or medicines from being a part of economic sanctions on a foreign country
• Exempting farm exports from trade sanctions

Wellstone Opposed Fast-Track Trading Authority
Paul Wellstone opposed renewing Fast-Track trade negotiating authority that provides no meaningful protections for workers, the environment, and our right to pass and maintain laws in the public interest, and that cedes to the executive branch powers reserved to Congress by the Constitution.

Wellstone Worked for Trade Relief for American Steel Industry.
Paul Wellstone worked with other Senators and Representatives from both parties to get fair trade protections for the U.S. steel industry and its workers.

• Wellstone helped convince President Bush to continue a Clinton administration investigation into U.S. imports of iron ore and steel.
• Wellstone signed a bipartisan letter with more than a dozen senators in March 2001 asking President Bush for trade relief on behalf of the American steel industry.
• Working wtih Senator Mark Dayton Paul Wellstone introduced the Steel Revitalization Act of 2001 to make more loans available to American steel companies and set restrictions on the imports of iron ore, semifinished steel and finished steel products.

Wellstone and Senator Mark Dayton introduced the Taconite Workers Relief Act of 2001, to ensure that the taconite industry benefits fully from U.S. trade laws and that taconite workers qualify for trade assistance benefits if they lose their jobs because of foreign trade.

Wellstone Voted Against Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China
Paul Wellstone voted against final passage of the United States-China Relations Act of 2000, which allowed the President to grant the People's Republic of China (PRC) permanent normal trade relations status with the United States. He supported numerous amendments to the bill that would have helped establish a fair trade relationship with China rather than an unfettered free trade relationship. They would have required:

• Presidential certification that China was complying with prohibition of the importation and exportation of prison labor products
• Presidential certification that China was meeting human rights conditions and respect for religious freedom before granting permanent normal trade relations
• A business code of conduct for businesses with investments in China
• The monitoring of China's environmental practices
• The monitoring of U.S.-China trade relations
• The elimination of the $60 billion per year trade deficit with China
• Protections to U.S. businesses against market-disrupting surges of imports from China