Do pro-trade firms want trade agreements to include stronger provisions protecting workers? The position of those firms in the US in recent years is often counterintuitive vis-à-vis the expectations of the literature. To solve that puzzle, I argue that it is necessary to account for the intricacies of the position of firms/associations on US trade–labor linkage according to their GVC integration. I argue that highly GVC-integrated firms/associations fear the uncertainties of strong labor provisions in PTAs and prefer to oppose commitments that could potentially lead to sanctions. However, it can be risky to oppose the inclusion of strong labor provisions in US PTAs. Instead, I argue that highly integrated firms/associations nowadays support trade–labor linkage but attach intricate conditions to that support based on lessons from previous experiences. To probe that argument, I perform a qualitative text analysis of the public submissions of firms/industry associations positioning themselves on the link between trade and labor in US PTAs between 2008 and 2020. The empirical analysis underscores the plausibility of my hypothesis. The results point to subtle ways in which pro-trade firms may lobby trade–labor linkage. The paper has implications to the design of sustainable development provisions in US PTAs and beyond.

中文翻译：

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企业支持美国贸易协定中的劳工条款的复杂性

支持贸易的公司是否希望贸易协定包含更强有力的保护工人的条款？近年来，这些公司在美国的立场往往与文献的预期相反。为了解决这个难题，我认为有必要根据他们的全球价值链整合来解释公司/协会在美国贸易-劳工联系上的立场的复杂性。我认为，高度整合全球价值链的公司/协会担心 PTA 中强有力的劳工条款的不确定性，并且更愿意反对可能导致制裁的承诺。然而，反对在美国 PTA 中加入强有力的劳工条款可能是有风险的。相反，我认为高度整合的公司/协会现在支持贸易与劳工之间的联系，但根据以往的经验教训为这种支持附加了复杂的条件。为了探讨这一论点，我对 2008 年至 2020 年期间美国 PTA 中贸易与劳动力之间的联系定位自己的公司/行业协会的公开提交进行了定性文本分析。实证分析强调了我的假设的合理性。结果表明支持贸易的公司可能会以微妙的方式游说贸易与劳工之间的联系。该文件对美国 PTA 及其他地区的可持续发展条款的设计有影响。