[CTC] President says he is open to NAFTA modifications or a new trade deal

[Arthur Stamoulis]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-says-he-wants-to-kick-start-nafta-negotiations-1486056404 <https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-says-he-wants-to-kick-start-nafta-negotiations-1486056404>
Trump Says He Wants to ‘Kick-Start’ Nafta Negotiations 

President says he is open to modifications or a new trade deal 

William Mauldin
Updated Feb. 2, 2017 5:41 p.m. ET 
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump met with key lawmakers Thursday in an effort to win crucial support from a divided Congress on plans to overhaul North America’s economic ties and reshape U.S. trade policy.

Mr. Trump said he wanted to move quickly on retooling the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, or Nafta. The meeting came a day after the Mexican government said it was beginning a 90-day period to consult with the country’s private sector and prepare a negotiating position on Nafta.

The Trump administration hasn’t given its own necessary 90-day notice to Congress that the U.S. intends to seek a revamped accord, and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said a formal renegotiation of Nafta hasn’t begun.

Thursday at the White House, Mr. Trump told the top Republicans and Democrats of the congressional committees that drive trade policy that he wanted to “kick-start” the Nafta renegotiation process.

“I would like to speed it up if possible,” Mr. Trump said he told the lawmakers, criticizing unspecified “statutory limits” on the timing imposed by Congress. Even if Mr. Trump clinches deals with Mexico and Canada, lawmakers could be his hardest sell. Any final agreement would need majority approval by both the Senate and House, where lawmakers are likely to assert themselves on economic priorities and procedural safeguards.

Lawmakers have long been divided on trade issues, but the fault lines have shifted in recent years as rank-and-file Republicans have grown more skeptical of free trade.

The 2016 presidential campaign showed the negative feelings of voters on the left and right toward previous trade deals, which leading candidates blamed for the movement of jobs overseas. But Congress still includes many free-traders, mostly Republicans, who are skeptical of Mr. Trump’s ambitious plan to upend U.S. trade deals around the world and focus on bilateral rather than the multilateral agreements favored by former President Barack Obama.

Among those meeting with Mr. Trump Thursday was Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R., Utah), who was lead author of the 2015 legislation that would give the White House what Is known as trade-promotion, or fast-track, authority: the ability to negotiate accords and submit them to Congress for up-or-down votes without amendments.

Republicans provided most of the support for that legislation, which was aimed at paving the way for the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership. Mr. Trump formally pulled the U.S. out of that deal, but the fast-track authority carries over to his term and could expedite a renegotiated Nafta or other agreements.

Lawmakers have referred in recent days to Congress’s role in the trade process. Mr. Hatch told business leaders Wednesday he would insist that any deal Mr. Trump brought to Congress follow the fast-track law closely, especially in areas such as intellectual-property protection.

After meeting with Mr. Trump on Thursday Mr. Hatch said in a statement: “Ultimately, major shifts in policy are decisions that should be made with the consultation of Congress which, under the U.S. Constitution, has authority over tariffs.”

Trade lawyers say it can be especially difficult to negotiate with full-fledged democracies such as Canada, Mexico and Australia because the presidents and prime ministers have to worry about striking a deal that would concede too much to the U.S. and thereby boost opposition political leaders.

But the concerns of U.S. lawmakers also can’t be ignored. The Obama administration in 2015 faced a revolt over fast-track legislation, from Democratic lawmakers who were mostly supportive of its trade policy.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, and other Democrats wanted strong enforcement measures in the 2015 legislation to punish trading partners if they violated trade rules.

Mr. Wyden, who attended Thursday’s meeting, also backed a provision in the fast-track law to allow Congress to exclude an agreement from expedited consideration in Congress if it didn’t measure up to their negotiating objectives.

That provision could allow lawmakers in pivotal committees to torpedo any new Nafta.

Some Democratic lawmakers skeptical of the benefits of trade liberalization have shown the most interest in working with Mr. Trump on trade policy. But Democrats are unlikely to embrace a final deal unless it substantially strengthens the labor and environmental provisions former President Bill Clinton added to Nafta.

Labor leaders insist that countries that trade freely with the U.S. should have tough labor and environmental standards to prevent companies from moving abroad to cut corners.

And some lawmakers have expressed concerns about how Mr. Trump will negotiate with partner countries and keep Congress informed. The new president said Thursday that Wilbur Ross, his pick for commerce secretary, would be “representing us in negotiations, along with—along with a lot of other great people.”

But most lawmakers who oversee trade prefer to deal with the U.S. trade representative, a special cabinet-level office designed to serve as a bridge between the White House and Capitol Hill. Mr. Trump’s pick for trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, hasn’t had a confirmation hearing yet.

“I got the impression that there’s a bit of a learning curve for everybody,” said Rep. Richard Neal (D., Mass.), the top Democrat on the House’s trade committee, after the White House meeting.

—Michael C. Bender, Richard Rubin and Paul Vieira contributed to this article.
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