NH Examines Effect of Trade Agreements

New Hampshire exports hit a record high of $3 billion in 2007, and are on track to surpass that figure in 2008. That will make NH the fastest growing New England state, and the 15th fastest in the country for exports. A new Citizens Trade Policy Commission, established by the NH Legislature last year, is seeking to give NH businesspeople and residents a way to voice concerns about how federal trade agreements affect NH.

The Citizens Trade Policy Commission, chaired by Sen. Jacalyn Cilley, D-Barrington, was established to assess and monitor the legal and economic effects of trade agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), on state and local laws, working conditions, and the business environment. The Commission, whose first annual report to Gov. John Lynch is due in November, is holding meetings this fall to gather public opinion and recommendations, as well as input from experts, so it can make policy recommendations to protect the state from any negative impact of trade agreements.

The commission consists of house and senate members as well as members of the public. They represent such fields as small business, agriculture, health care and nonprofit, and have spent much of their first year acquiring information and developing a composite of what these trade agreements are, what they mean to state
sovereignty and what kind of impacts they are having, Cilley says.

According to Cilley, one of the main concerns raised is the lack of input from states when international trade agreements are drafted. These trade agreements are negotiated at the federal level with little or no input for the states, she says. As a consequence, it's difficult to get our voice heard [about concerns]. Cilley notes that a recent change to a trade agreement included the deletion of the language sub-federal objectives, leaving only language referring to national objectives. When you apply only a national objective standard, it effectively says that states have no right or no standing, Cilley says.

The commission is holding two public meetings in the fall to hear from the public; the first will be held in the North Country at White Mountain College on Sept. 25 and will include a wide range of stakeholders. Prior to the meeting, the commission will talk with a specialist from the NH Department of Resources and Economic Development to preview the issues that North Country residents might be facing in regard to free trade. Later in the fall, the commission intends to hold another meeting in the southern part of the state.

Looking beyond that, the commission is slated to produce its first annual report in November. There is a possibility, too, that they will make recommendations to the Legislature, including a possible recommendation that state participation in free trade agreements require the approval of the Legislature. We can achieve a global market without winners and losers, Cilley says.