A letter questioning newly announced labeling requirements for Israeli goods produced over the Green Line was sent by a bipartisan, bicameral coalition of lawmakers to U.S. Trade Rep. (USTR) Michael Froman last week.
The letter, signed by U.S. Reps. Peter Roskam (R-IL) and Juan Vargas (D-CA), Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MA), requested an update on efforts by the USTR to raise the issue of labeling requirements with the European Commission in a manner that is consistent with anti-BDS (boycott, divestment and sanction) language in the recently enacted Trade Promotion Authority (TPA).
“We are writing to express our deep concerns regarding yesterday’s announcement by the European Commission for new labeling requirements of Israeli goods produced over the green line – including the West Bank, as well as East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights,” the letter said. “Though billed as a technical consumer education ‘fix,’ such policies can, and indeed should, be viewed as part of the European Union’s larger campaign to try and impose borders on Israel outside of a negotiated peace process by differentiating between pre- and post-1967 Israel. This is exactly the kind of activity we had anticipated when we authored the provisions related to the boycotts, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel in the Trade Promotional Authority legislation that was signed into law by the president on June 29, 2015.”
The Green Line, established in the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, has been referred to as the “1967 borders” by numerous statesmen, including U.S. President Barack Obama, and delineates the boundaries between Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.
“As you may know, the anti-BDS principal negotiating objectives in this legislation seek to discourage our potential trading partners from undertaking politically-motivated BDS actions and to eliminate unsanctioned, state-sponsored boycotts against Israel,” the letter said. “The objectives also instruct U.S. trade negotiators to discourage actions that impede U.S.-Israel commerce.
“The legislation was designed to combat politically motivated, government-led economic attacks aimed at delegitimizing Israel’s right to exist and pressuring Israel into unilateral concessions outside the bounds of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Congress has never condoned such actions and views such boycotts against Israel as reprehensible and unacceptable.”
The TPA’s anti-BDS provisions do not differentiate between boycotts that target either Israel or Israeli-controlled territories, which is consistent with the 1985 U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement. The U.S. government, under the provisions of that agreement, does not distinguish between goods entering the U.S. from Israel or its controlled territories, providing all such goods with duty-free treatment.
“Trying to differentiate between Israeli products — which may be produced in several regions — creates a slippery slope that would allow supporters of even the ‘targeted’ BDS movement to declare all or most Israeli products appropriately subject to BDS actions,” the letter said.
The coalition’s letter also encouraged Froman to express opposition to the EU’s new labeling guidelines and to any additional actions under consideration that would restrict commerce with or isolate Israel.
Representative Peter Roskam (R-IL) has represented Illinois’s 6th District in the House of Representatives since 2007. Born in Hinsdale, Illinois in 1961, Rep. Roskam previously served as Chief Deputy Whip from 2011 to 2014. Rep. Roskam was educated at University of Illinois & Chicago-Kent College of Law and is married to Elizabeth.
He serves on the following committees: Committee on Ways and Means.