[CTC] More NAFTA Statements

Tue Aug 28 05:09:25 PDT 2018

https://pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2018/08/27/prime-minister-justin-trudeau-speaks-united-states-president-donald-j-trump

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks with United States President Donald J. Trump

Ottawa, Ontario - August 27, 2018
The Prime Minister had a constructive conversation today with President Trump regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement. The leaders welcomed the progress that has been made in discussions with Mexico and look forward to having their teams engage this week with a view to a successful conclusion of negotiations.

R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America

“Fighting for the Independent U.S. Cattle Producer”

For Immediate Release:                                                                     Contact: R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard
August 27, 2018                                                                                 Phone: 406-252-2516; r-calfusa at r-calfusa.com <mailto:r-calfusa at r-calfusa.com>

Trump Administration Hasn’t Said if New U.S.-Mexico Trade Agreement Requires COOL

Billings, Mont. – Today, R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s announcement that he has renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in part by negotiating a new trade agreement between the United States and Mexico.

“We have fully supported the Trump Administration’s plan to renegotiate NAFTA and while some of the details released today indicate the new U.S.-Mexico trade agreement will benefit some U.S. economic sectors, such as the auto industry and its workers by requiring a higher percentage of supply-chain parts to be sourced in the U.S. and Mexico, we don’t yet know if the new agreement contains the critical requirement for country of origin labeling (COOL) on Mexican beef and beef from Mexican cattle.

“For decades the U.S. cattle industry has been unable to produce enough beef to meet domestic demand. This is because prior free trade agreements, particularly NAFTA, allow unlimited numbers of tariff-free cattle from countries like Mexico, where cattle are overproduced at a significantly lower cost. These lower-cost imported cattle displace opportunities for current and aspiring U.S. cattle producers to expand or start their herd.

“Because beef from these imported cattle can be sold as a “Product of U.SA” in our domestic market, the multinational beef packers wallow in higher profits because their ability to source lower-cost cattle that produce lower-cost, undifferentiated beef inflates their profit margins.

“Every time our industry’s price-point signals an opportunity to strengthen our domestic industry, unlimited imports of cheaper cattle and undifferentiated beef enter the U.S. and drive that price-point downward, thus eliminating opportunities for U.S. farmers and ranchers.

“Since NAFTA, the U.S. imports on average 1.1 million Mexican cattle each year. This represents a lost opportunity for over 3,500 U.S. ranches with a herd size of 300 head each. 

“Our domestic live cattle supply chain shrank by 6.5 million domestic cattle since NAFTA and this U.S.-Mexico trade agreement should contain provisions to help our industry reverse this downward trend. 

“We hope that a further release of details will show that COOL will be required for Mexican beef and beef from Mexican cattle.”

# # #

 R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) is the largest producer-only cattle trade association in the United States. It is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com <http://www.r-calfusa.com/> or, call 406-252-2516.  

https://foe.org/news/trump-strikes-trade-deal-mexico/

Trump Strikes Trade Deal with Mexico
August 27, 2018

Deal threatens public health and the planet
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Donald Trump claimed today that the United States and Mexico have reached a general agreement on the broad outlines of a new NAFTA deal. However, Canada is not on board with the U.S., and negotiations are likely to continue.

Bill Waren, senior trade analyst at Friends of the Earth, issued the following statement:

Any new NAFTA deal negotiated by Donald Trump will be an across-the-board threat to environmental and public health safeguards. Trump’s new trade deal could roll back regulation of dangerous chemicals such as those associated with breast cancer, autism, or infertility. 

From neonicotinoid pesticides, which are killing our pollinators, to new provisions on autos and fossil fuels, Trump’s deal with Mexico will jeopardize our health and our planet. Trump’s new NAFTA deal must be stopped.

https://www.keionline.org/28688

Trump Administration announces details of possible trade deal with Mexico
Posted on August 27, 2018 <https://www.keionline.org/28688> by James Love <https://www.keionline.org/author/james-love>
USTR has provided some details of the new trade agreement with Mexico, here <https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2018/august/modernizing-nafta-be-21st-century>. As usual, the agreement seems to favor drug companies and holders of copyrights, although few of the details are known. Among the specifics revealed are a proposed extension of copyright to what appears to be life+ 75 years, shorter than the Mexico term but longer that the current US term, and a minimum 10 years for protection of test data for biologic drugs, longer than the term in the TPP.

The USTR press release has extensive details on digital trade issues. Among the several issues that concern KEI is the agreement to “Limit governments’ ability to require disclosure of proprietary computer source code and algorithms, to better protect the competitiveness of digital suppliers.” Given the state of security concerns and the lack of a coherent response to the challenges of software related monopolies, it seems unwise to lock governments into policies prevent mandates to make certain code open.

CPA Statement on US-Mexico Trade Agreement
The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) expressed support for President Trump and his trade team taking aggressive and unconventional steps to craft a new trade arrangement with Mexico.  We continue to study the newly announced agreement.

“This is another example of President Trump living up to his campaign promises by renegotiating or terminating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and pursuing bilateral trade deals instead,” said Dan DIMicco, Chairman of CPA. “Despite vociferous opposition from Congress, foreign companies and the import lobby, the President and his trade team continue to work hard for domestic producers.”

“We support the administration’s work to gain trade leverage and overturn the past policy of unilateral trade disarmament which caused offshoring and wage stagnation,” said Michael Stumo, CEO of CPA. “If Canada refuses to negotiate, they should not expect to be included.”

Previously reports by CPA <http://www.prosperousamerica.org/cpa_testimony_nafta_negotiations> have shown that US trade performance with Mexico significantly worsened after NAFTA was implemented in 1994. The details of the new US-Mexico trade agreement have yet to be fully revealed. Some basic information has been released. 

Rules of Origin: Progress appears to have been made on rules of origin in several manufacturing sectors. Seventy five percent (75%) of auto content must be made in the US and Mexico under the agreement, which at first blush is an increase from the current NAFTA. 

Other rules of origin on chemicals, steel intensive products, glass and optical fiber have been announced. Strong rules of origin are necessary to prevent China and other countries from shipping product through Mexico to the US. Certification and verification of rules of origin are also to be strengthened, which provides for more effective enforcement to prevent duty evasion. CPA will study those rules as more details are released.

Labor Content Rules: An intriguing new labor value content rule will require that 40-45% of auto content be made by workers earning at least $16 per hour. That rule, if implemented, could further increase the proportion of US content in autos because Mexican workers make far below that amount. The specific provisions of this rule are important and remain to be seen.

Agriculture: Agricultural goods will purportedly continue receiving zero tariff treatment. Corn and soybean farmers will be supportive because they are net exporters to Mexico. Fruit and vegetable growers as well as cattle producers, however, have suffered from cheap Mexican net imports that have displaced their share of the US consumer market.

We remain hopeful country of origin labeling for meats was included in the deal, though early reports are silent on this issue. Canada and Mexico were the instigators of a World Trade Organization proceeding that wrongly found that America’s country of origin meat labeling rules violated international trade rules. Foreign and multinational food companies oppose informing consumers about where their food comes from.

Section 232 Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum: While early announcements did not discuss the section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, CPA has heard that the tariffs will remain in place as to Mexico or be shifted to quotas so as to prevent a surge of direct or trans-shipped imports from Mexico. 

Misaligned Exchange Rates: Early reports are silent as to whether currency is included in the US-Mexico deal. We look forward to learning more. Whether or not included, America should implement unilateral measures such as charges on excessive foreign capital inflows that drive the US dollar too high. The strong dollar, supported by Wall Street financiers that sell dollar assets, depresses US exports of goods and services and subsidizes imports. The US needs a competitive dollar price to eliminate the trade deficit, increase wages and grow domestic production.

CPA will continue supporting the President and his trade team on efforts to grow valued added food and goods supply chains in the US, balance trade, and transition towards strategic trade policies that benefit American producers. 

[Fact sheets distributed by the Office of the US Trade Representative can be found at the following links.  Manufacturing Fact Sheet <https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/prosperousamerica/pages/4559/attachments/original/1535403848/USTR_-_Rebalancing_NAFTA_to_Support_Manufacturing.pdf?1535403848>, Agriculture Fact Sheet <https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/prosperousamerica/pages/4559/attachments/original/1535403849/USTR_-_Strengthening_NAFTA_for_Agriculture_Manufacturing.pdf?1535403849>, Intellectual Property Fact Sheet <https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/prosperousamerica/pages/4559/attachments/original/1535403846/USTR_-_Modernizing_NAFTA_to_be_a_21st_Century_Trade_Agreement.pdf?1535403846>.]

About CPA: The Coalition for a Prosperous America is the nation’s premier organization working on the intersection of trade, jobs, tax, and economic growth. We represent the interests of 4.1 million households through our agricultural, manufacturing, and labor members.

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