From Intellectual Property Watch: "Democrats Could Slow US Trade Deals But May Change Little On IP."

Presidential negotiating authority for trade agreements expires on 1 July, 2007, and its renewal is in doubt as Democrats are expected to press for substantive changes on labour and environment and procedural changes to boost the role of Congress in shaping negotiations.

Democrats are expected to continue their calls for aggressive enforcement against abuse of US copyrights and patents abroad. Rangel has pressed for the United States to bring more WTO complaints to combat piracy, and last month said he would introduce legislation to require monthly reports from the US Trade Representative on enforcement activities.

“There are a lot of Republicans and a lot of Democrats that are supportive of our [IP] agenda. I’m not anticipating that it would be much different,” said one US trade official.

posted by James DeLong @ 8:40 AM | International

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