Perspectives on Trade: A Conversation with Rep. Earl Blumenauer

We are honored to have Congressman Earl Blumenauer of Oregon's 3rd District with us to discuss the role of Congress in crafting and enacting trade policy.

Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996, Congressman Earl Blumenauer is a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee and Ranking Member of the Trade Subcommittee. 

Prior to his role as Ranking Member of the Trade Subcommittee, Blumenauer worked to successfully ban the importation of illegally harvested timber and wood products in the Timber Annex to the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement and Lacey Act Amendments of 2008. His legislation contributed to a nearly 50 percent reduction in imports of illegally sourced wood products. It also served as a model for other countries’ efforts to reduce global deforestation, sparking similar laws in the European Union, Japan, and Australia.

As Chairman of the Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, Blumenauer played a pivotal role in the development of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement. He successfully improved the original Trump NAFTA 2.0 agreement by providing enforcement resources for environmental protections and enacting a first-of-its-kind Rapid-Response labor enforcement mechanism.

In 2022, Blumenauer put forth a pro-worker trade package in the America COMPETES Act. This package passed the House of Representatives and reauthorized the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, Generalized System of Preferences, Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, and closed the de minimis loophole. He continues to work to enact this package in the 118th Congress.

As he begins his last year in Congress, he will continue to advocate for trade policies that are worker-centered, uplift human rights, build supply chain resilience, strengthen U.S. competitiveness with China, and are sensitive to the urgency of the climate crisis.

This event is made possible by general support to CSIS.