[CTC] Administration initially sends draft NAFTA notice to Republicans only, drawing Democrats’ ire

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Administration initially sends draft NAFTA notice to Republicans only, drawing Democrats’ ire
Inside US Trade,March 28, 2017 

The Trump administration on Tuesday sent a draft NAFTA notification letter to the chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Ways & Means committees -- but not initially to the panels’ ranking members, provoking an angry response from Democrats.
   
Ways & Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) told Inside U.S. Trade on March 28 that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, in a bipartisan meeting with the panel, “acknowledged that they have submitted a draft, a very preliminary draft of the 90-day letter,” a key step in the process of reopening talks on the deal with Mexico and Canada.
 
“So this is just a draft laying out the objectives of this, NAFTA negotiations,” Brady said. “They asked for preliminary input; I believe they'll be doing the same with the Democrat staff.”
 
Initially, however, the Democrats were not sent the draft -- and several told Inside U.S. Trade they were not happy at what they viewed as a breach of precedent.
 
A USTR official said the Democrats were given the draft later in the day, though not before they prepared a letter to Ross and acting U.S. Trade Representative Stephen Vaughn faulting them for what the Democrats viewed as a lack of bipartisanship on a key step in the process laid out in the Trade Promotion Authority law.
 
An administration official said the draft was initially sent only to the Republican chairmen of the committees to gauge their appetite for receiving the official, final notification from the current trade team led by Ross and Vaughn. President Trump’s pick for USTR, Robert Lighthizer, remains unconfirmed, and some in Congress believe the process should not move forward until he -- the lead trade negotiator -- is in office, though the administration appears prepared to move forward without Lighthizer.
 
Ways & Means Committee ranking member Richard Neal (D-MA) told Inside U.S. Trade about the Democrats’ letter to Ross and Vaughn, adding that he expected they would “quickly” get a response from Commerce. “But this is not a positive step, and there’s a long way to go on this,” Neal said of the failure to deliver the draft to Republicans and Democrats at the same time.
 
Trade subcommittee ranking member Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) said “I would hope that this was not Ross's idea,” adding, “he's going to have a problem with us. So maybe they want to do trade without us also. I don't think so, but maybe.”
 
“It's going to be a big problem with me; that wouldn't be starting off on the right foot,” Pascrell added. “We are in a bipartisan mood on trade; if they violate that early, it only goes back to the president of the United States. I don't expect anything more from him.”
 
Brady, however, downplayed the move, saying the Democrats would see the draft notice -- and adding that “from the read I get from Democrats, they're eager to explore these negotiations with the secretary and later the USTR.”
 
Brady added that Ross “both in intent and practice, [is] seeking to re-establish bipartisan consultation on trade. I think that's a strength.”
 
USTR Deputy Chief of Staff Payne Griffin told Inside U.S. Trade the administration is “committed to working with both sides to develop a 90-day notice that the Congress will accept.”
 
“We have been scrupulously fair by providing both sides access to our team. In addition to the president’s meeting with the chairs and ranking members, Secretary Ross’s first meeting with the Congress was with the Democrat members on the Ways & Means Committee to discuss this letter,” Griffin said. “The letter is currently at a very preliminary phase, and we look forward to working with both sides to develop the text.”
 
Ross and Vaughn, during their meeting with Ways & Means members earlier on March 28, signaled they were aiming to notify Congress before its Easter recess of the intent to officially begin NAFTA talks -- a timeline that some lawmakers called “ambitious” because the administration’s negotiating objectives remained unclear.
 
Neal said the discussions did not materially advance the process. “We keep meeting about the same things, talking about the same things,” Neal said. “In my opening remarks, I spoke of the need for the [notification] letter. We need the letter. And he said the staffs are conferring, and that was the best we got.”
 
Neal said the discussion did not shed light on the administration’s negotiating objectives, either -- adding: “I don't want to read about it. I want to know in advance. Before they send the letter.”
 
“The issue is we have 90 calendar days. So it's not like 90 legislative days. So this thing really has to move,” he added.
 
Ways & Means member Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) said he and other members of the committee pushed the administration officials on the need to lay out specific objectives and warned that the administration’s approach could result in retaliation by NAFTA partners.
 
“We certainly appreciate the secretary’s willingness to sit down but at some point we gotta move beyond the platitudes and get to the substance of what their ultimate objective will be, and that so far has been less than clear what they ultimately hope to accomplish,” Kind said. “I don’t see how you can go to another nation that’s already operating under an agreement and expect them to just concede and give up things when they’re gonna be looking for some reciprocity.”
 
“And many of us raised concerns that things could backfire given the export market that’s been developed for us there right now and the ability for Mexico to pivot to China or Brazil or whomever,” he added. “We’re not the only game in town anymore.”
 
Ross, during the meeting, told Kind the administration was planning to submit the final renegotiated NAFTA to Congress for a vote <https://insidetrade.com/node/158104>-- an indication that the Trump trade team is seeking to modify the deal significantly enough that it will require making changes to U.S. law.
 
The administration has yet to schedule meetings with the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Advisory Group on Negotiations, both of which must be consulted before the official notice that starts the 90-day clock can be sent. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said on March 28 that he did not believe his staff to date had been approached by the administration to schedule such meetings.
 
Asked if he would be comfortable meeting with the acting USTR and Commerce secretary to discuss NAFTA, as well as receiving the NAFTA notice from them, Hatch said “Look, I'm very flexible; I can do almost anything here.” But Hatch noted that his Democratic counterpart, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), “has taken the position that we have to have the committee's approval,” adding that he did not expect Wyden to approve of receiving the notice from anyone other than the USTR.
 
Asked why the Finance Committee meeting with the administration had not yet taken place, Hatch blamed the Democrats. “We're trying to keep a good relationship with the Democrats, and that's not easy sometimes, because some of their demands are outrageous,” he said. -- Jenny Leonard (jleonard at iwpnews.com <mailto:jleonard at iwpnews.com>)
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