"Today, on behalf of President Obama, I am here to affirm this administration's commitment to trade enforcement."

A key statement in USTR Ron Kirk's speech to Pennsylvania steel workers.  More highlights:

I am announcing several concrete new measures that will help to guarantee America's workers, businesses, and families a fair deal.

We will take new steps to protect the rights of American farmers and small business owners. We will hold our trading partners to their word on labor standards. And we will use work we're already doing to fight even harder for the men and women who fuel our economy and support their families.

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Americans have believed that our government hasn't done enough to protect our trade rights. And, while our trading partners largely respect our agreements, sometimes those rules are violated. That's why enforcement cannot be an afterthought. It needs to be a centerpiece of trade policy.

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The Office of the United States Trade Representative is strengthening trade enforcement efforts because we will do everything we can to support those jobs and the workers who hold them.

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Our new approach to enforcement is simple. We will deploy our resources more effectively to identify and solve problems at the source. But make no mistake: we will pursue legal remedies when other options are closed.

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Legal remedies are never our first choice. Not because they are not effective, but because right now, many American companies, and the people who work for them, can't afford to wait years for an international legal case. So we will emphasize vigorous oversight, frank dialogue, and negotiation as faster means of getting trade back on track.

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First, we will build on what works. One of the best ways we guarantee America's trade rights is by consistently monitoring our partners' trade practices. If they know we are holding a magnifying glass up to their actions, they'll be less likely to break the rules. So, we will use that magnifying glass on behalf of more American businesses.

Some of our best results have come from two targeted enforcement tools: one to stop violations in telecommunications trade, and one called Special 301, that does the same for American intellectual property rights.

That last one is a technical name for something fairly basic: one of our biggest, strongest enforcement tools.

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We're going to apply the lessons of those successful programs to address other, equally important trade barriers. Two new, innovative tools will provide strong support for U.S. farmers, ranchers, and industry.
The first new tool will confront barriers that other countries raise to prevent our farmers and ranchers from marketing their products abroad. We must more strongly address sanitary and phytosanitary barriers, like the restrictive regulations some countries slapped on American pork because of the H1N1 flu scare. And we must address them across the board, as well as on a case by case basis. This will ensure our agricultural producers see their rights restored abroad, and their businesses saved here at home.

The second new tool will take on one of the biggest obstacles our manufacturers face: technical barriers to trade, such as technical regulations and standards that restrict U.S. exports of safe, high quality products. Now, we will seek out these barriers and tackle them head-on.

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We will also continue to use trade remedies, like anti-dumping and anti-subsidy laws that the U.S. has on the books, and that are vitally important tools. We use them to correct distortions of trade - situations where the playing field is artificially tilted against us - and to ensure that the field stays level everywhere else.

Finally, we will hold our trading partners to their commitments on workers' rights.

Since 2001, the United States has entered into free trade agreements with 14 countries.
Every one of those agreements contains an obligation to enforce domestic labor laws, and to strive for labor standards that adhere to international norms. Now, we will insist that our trading partners hold up their end of the bargain. American workers should not be expected to compete against substandard labor practices.

To date, we have enforced our trading partners' labor obligations only on a complaint-driven basis. Well, no longer.

In close partnership with Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and their staffs, we will immediately identify and investigate labor violations...before they can disadvantage American workers.

Together, we will engage governments of countries that violate the rules, to restore workers' rights quickly. If those governments can't seem to fix their labor problems, we will help them find a way. And if they won't fix their labor problems, we will exercise our legal options.