Washington, D.C. — In response to the Chinese government’s escalated trade challenge against the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax credits for electric vehicles earlier today, the Trade Justice Education Fund’s Executive Director Arthur Stamoulis issued the following statement:
“The world cannot afford for outdated trade rules to delay, weaken or derail urgently-needed clean energy initiatives and other climate policies.
“The Biden administration is right to oppose China’s hypocritical trade attack against the climate provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act. More so, this attack should serve as the impetus for the U.S. and other nations to begin working with one another towards an immediate moratorium on the use of trade challenges against climate action.
“A Climate Peace Clause that halts trade attacks on climate measures is a necessary step towards helping economies transition to clean energy on the rapid timeline that is required to head off the worse possible impacts of climate change. Ultimately, existing trade rules should be rewritten so that trade pacts become tools for advancing just and sustainable development — but we don’t have time for trade attacks on climate measures while waiting for that to happen.
“A moratorium on the use of international trade agreements to challenge climate policies would: (1) help governments safeguard existing climate mitigation and transition measures by protecting them from trade challenge; (2) create the space for governments to adopt the bolder climate policies that justice and science demand without fear or threat of trade challenges; and (3) incentivize and offer countries time to work together and resolve the underlying tensions between current trade law and the imperative for climate action.”
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