Yesterday, the USTR released its annual report.  I have to admit, I was hoping for an agenda that played more than the typical lip service the US has played in the past to environmental and labor concerns.  You can read the report here:

ww.ustr.gov/assets/Document_Library/Reports_Publications/2009/

2009_Trade_Policy_Agenda/asset_upload_file810_15401.pdf

Many of you may remember that Clinton managed to cajole the unions and environmentalists into swallowing NAFTA by promising that Mexico would begin enforcing the laws already on its books, pre-NAFTA -- laws that, for all intents and purposes, are more stringent than those in the U.S.  The problem with Mexico, it turned out, was with making sure people actually *obeyed* those laws.  Mexico's executive branch was...reluctant...to actual flex any of its police power muscle when it came to labor and the environment.

The Clinton administration, seeing a brilliant opportunity to hoodwink the opposition, made sure NAFTA had a collateral agreement whereby the NAFTA parties agreed to "cooperate and communicate" when it came to enforcement of each others' environmental and labor laws, setting up a petition system so that abuses could be followed up by domestic labor and environmental ministries.  Needless to say, it was mere baby teeth: for the most part, all the NAFTA parties were required to do was to "publish" the wrongs of the wrongdoers, hoping to shame them into compliance. (note: in very discrete circumstances, a NAFTA tribunal can enforce violations of certain types of wrongdoing, e.g., violations of free trade, minimum wage, and child labor laws (but not collective bargaining or dicrimination)--but only if one country's government was willing to sue that of another country.  Which almost never happens, as such governments are fearful of trade retaliations)  So anyway, you can guess how successful Clinton's Compromise was with improving labor and environmental standards.

And Obama's anticipated nominee to the USTR, Ron Kirk, doesn't appear to want to change much.  But who can blame him, given the current economic environment.  Still, if we're going to hell in a handbasket anyway...