[CTC] Freeland, Reichert assure each other they are committed to a NAFTA solution

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Dolan, Mike" <MDolan at teamster.org>
Date: January 10, 2018 at 10:04:48 AM EST
Reply-To: "Dolan, Mike" <MDolan at teamster.org>

 
Freeland, Reichert assure each other they are committed to a NAFTA solution

January 10, 2018
Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA), chairman of the House Ways and Means trade subcommittee, on Tuesday said he and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland had discussed a shared commitment to the successful renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement – a process that Reichert acknowledged was “unconventional.”
 
“One of the things that I can share with you the minister said to me was that they are committed to try and find a solution and I said ... ‘I know members of Congress are committed and I’m certain that we’ll be able to find some resolution,’” Reichert told Inside U.S. Trade after meeting with Freeland, Canada's political lead in NAFTA talks.
 
In addition to Reichert, Freeland met with Sens. Pat Roberts (R-KS), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) during her visit to Washington on Tuesday. She also met with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
 
“For 24 years NAFTA has created opportunities, jobs and a better life for our peoples,” Freeland said in a statement. “This is why, from day one of the negotiations, Canada has brought concrete proposals on how we can modernize NAFTA to the benefit of Canadian, American and Mexican citizens. We are focused on achieving real progress, including in Montréal‎ later this month.”
 
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has accused Canada of not engaging constructively in the negotiations to date. This week Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue echoed that sentiment, calling on Canada to “step up <https://insidetrade.com/node/161534>” as the talks progress.
 
Reichert said he had a “great meeting” with Freeland, calling her “very direct, honest and knowledgeable.”
 
Of the NAFTA negotiations, he said the Trump administration’s approach, while unorthodox, did not preclude a successful outcome.
 
“I think it’s been unconventional, the approach, but I was a hostage negotiator when I was in the sheriff’s office and sometimes unconventional methods give you an opportunity to have a more free-thinking, open-minded approach to solving problems,” Reichert said.
 
“When different ideas are presented and people are maybe offended by [them], shocked by them, or surprised by them, [it] doesn’t necessarily mean there’s not an opportunity to come together and find a solution,” he added.
 
Reichert said he and Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), the ranking member of the subcommittee, would be part of a bipartisan delegation heading to Canada during the sixth round of NAFTA talks in Montreal later this month. He said the group would try to meet with Freeland and her staff, as well as Canadian negotiators and business groups.
 
Reichert’s sanguine assessment came the same day that Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo suggested Mexico was willing to reach a compromise with the U.S. on autos.
 
According to Bloomberg, Guajardo told Mexican diplomats the Montreal round would be “crucial because it’s the first time we have to send clear signals <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-09/mexico-economy-minister-signals-opening-for-u-s-nafta-demand> of where we find possible accommodations,” adding that one “solution is without a doubt for a strengthened rule of origin in regional automotive content.”
 
The U.S. has proposed raising NAFTA’s regional content requirement for autos from 62.5 percent to 85 percent and has pushed for 50 percent U.S. content. The domestic content rule has been panned by U.S. lawmakers and automakers in all three countries, who fear it could wreck established supply chains.
 
Guajardo also appeared receptive to expanding the tracing list for auto parts – another U.S. objective.
 
“The list of traceability for some automotive components needs to be rethought for new technologies to send adequate signals about the strengthening of the value chains in North America,” Guajardo said, according to Bloomberg.
 
Members of Canada’s Conservative opposition party will soon travel to Washington to present a “united Canadian front” on NAFTA, the Canadian website iPolitics reported <https://ipolitics.ca/2018/01/09/scheer-headed-washington-push-nafta/>. The trip – including the “messaging” behind it – was coordinated with Freeland's office, the report said. Members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet have recently been dispatched to the U.S. to make the case for NAFTA to U.S. state and federal officials.



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