The new agreement emphasizes commitments binding both countries to abide by their own existing laws guaranteeing workers rights and environmental standards and confirms that free trade and workers rights must go hand in hand. Charlene Barshefsky, United States Trade Representative, calls the Jordan agreement a template for all other trade treaties.
Discussions are underway to negotiate similar accords with Chile and Singapore.
John Sweeney, head of the AFL-CIO, expressed support for the agreement, highlighting that it would ensure that the globalization process does not neglect the worker. Republican congressional leaders signaled discontent with this model and objected to the inclusion of labor and environmental standards in future trade agreements. It is an attempt to reconcile labor standards with free trade, concepts that traditionally have been viewed as mutually exclusive. However, while an important stride forward, the agreement is merely the first step in efforts to raise the bar on labor conditions. As member states of the ILO, both the U.S. and Jordan are bound by the Declaration, which includes the right of workers to form unions and bargain collectively as well as a ban on child labor.