[CTC] Ways and Means Democrats accuse Trump of backtracking on NAFTA

[Arthur Stamoulis]

POLITICO
Ways and Means Democrats accuse Trump of backtracking on NAFTA

By Doug Palmer
05/18/2017 01:07 PM EDT

Two senior Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee accused President Donald Trump of backtracking on promises to seek major changes in a NAFTA renegotiation, charging that the White House's formal notification letter <http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4e9ab3c669231ecf0cb6e2ff97b4339e52d9b94e99d927f9c016477d72b2256ecddd94a58be18da48aa40e1f10b54b12df856e80e31f717e39282752a7d8ad4c> to Congress suggests only modest tweaks to the pact.

"The tone and substance of the letter cannot be squared with the statements the president made describing NAFTA as a 'disaster' and the 'single worst trade deal' the United States ever negotiated," Rep. Richard Neal <http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4e9ab3c669231ecfb373bf293cd05211e2cb24f3921ae4b55b0d10d17acd3b523bb71edaf41b7e44dbd71fa8bda493a89f69f53ab26528cf1a96aedc54649b8a> (D-Mass.), top Democrat on House Ways and Means, and Rep. Bill Pascrell <http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4e9ab3c669231ecf0b9da202fb2563b8bf9bccbbcedd1c7042dab9d4834ee33d899dcc985290b344dfe7da11bd4c29e6957eb958dc11dfe65a58f453847b2917> (D-N.J.), ranking member of the panel's trade subcommittee, said in a joint letter <http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4e9ab3c669231ecf691f62beda62c13f75dff610d1042b1120744e08415e0264483806bc7b84670dc408dfb134923a449f35e0d3145767e1a7ce9671391c3aaf> to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. 

The administration's notification letter triggers a 90-day procedural window before negotiations with Canada and Mexico can begin.

"The letter, on the other hand," the duo wrote, "emphasizes that the administration’s goal is merely to 'improve' and 'modernize' NAFTA. The president also criticized Hillary Clinton for describing [the Trans-Pacific Partnership] as the 'gold standard,' but administration officials now say TPP text will serve as the starting point for many of its proposals to change NAFTA."

Sen. Ron Wyden <http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4e9ab3c669231ecf0dace42e3cded2953d7cd3c446f6478b0fdb672c118d3ece27069ad17d97eeb327fed091043dd2925c60b6c66b452e10acc16e7301cd9300> (D-Ore.), top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, called the administration's brief letter "disappointingly vague," but adopted a less critical tone and noted that the 2015 trade promotion authority legislation requires Lighthizer to spell out U.S. negotiating goals more clearly over the next 60 days.

"I am encouraged Ambassador Lighthizer committed to me that he will look to improve on what was achieved in the TPP agreement in several important areas," Wyden said. "I am also heartened that, in particular, he told me he will make it a priority to see to it that a final outcome of the negotiation includes the elimination of Chapter 19 of the NAFTA, which enables Canada and Mexico to challenge the way that the U.S. addresses unfairly traded imports from those countries.”
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