This article shows that since the early 1990s the inclusion of labor standards in trade agreements and the accordance of the national labor laws and practices of the trading partner with international standards have been a necessary condition for U.S. trade liberalization. If Democrats and Republicans were unable to reach agreement over the linkage of trade and labor, a liberal trade policy was difficult to achieve regardless of unified or divided government. On the other hand, a liberal trade policy became possible even under divided government if Democrats and Republicans agreed on labor provisions for trade agreements. Furthermore, the controversy over labor standards in trade agreements changed the relation between the President and Congress, because Congress increasingly acted as dominant trade policy maker not only in domestic politics but also in international negotiations.
Journal of World Trade