[CTC] Pence: NAFTA rebrand could be 'template' for future trade deals

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Crain’s Detroit Business
 
Pence: USMCA could be 'template' for future trade deals
By Chad Livengood
https://www.crainsdetroit.com/economy/pence-usmca-could-be-template-future-trade-deals <https://www.crainsdetroit.com/economy/pence-usmca-could-be-template-future-trade-deals>
 
08/19/2019
 
Vice President Mike Pence said Monday that the trade agreement the Trump administration has forged with Mexico and Canada could be the "template for all our future trade deals" with the European Union, Japan and China.
 
Speaking midday before the Detroit Economic Club, Pence sought to promote the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement trade deal President Donald Trump has forged with the nation's southern and northern neighbors as the pact languishes in Congress.
 
"Make no mistake about it, by passing the USMCA, it will strengthen the president's hand in negotiations with China," Pence said during the speech at MotorCity Casino Hotel.
 
Pence made Trump's China trade policies the centerpiece of his address to the 300 metro Detroit business and political leaders. Pence made a passing reference to Trump's decision last week to delay a new round of 10 percent tariffs on Chinese-made goods from Sept. 1 to Dec. 15.
 
"President Trump believes China wants to make a deal," Pence said. "But as the president has made clear, it's got to be a deal on our terms."
 
Pence's upbeat economic message came five days after the Dow Jones Industrial shed 800 points after the 10-year yield on Treasury bonds dipped below the two-year Treasury yield — a shift that has preceded recessions for the past seven decades.
 
"Despite the irresponsible rhetoric of many in the mainstream media, the American economy is strong," Pence said. "... Last week, despite some volatility in global markets, leading retailers reported strong sales and earnings."
 
Pence's focus on trade issues in a speech in industrial Detroit reflects the outlines of Trump's re-election campaign message next year that the economy is "booming" (in Pence's words) and will only get better if the president's trade policies come to fruition.
 
"With the USMCA signed into law, it will strengthen the economy of North America like never before," Pence said.
 
Pence said the USMCA "levels the playing field for American workers" by requiring that 75 percent of the value of parts in a vehicle originate from North America.
 
"Forty percent of (duty-free cars) must be made by workers making essentially the hourly average wage here in the United States," Pence said. "We believe that will eliminate the historic incentive to manufacture outside of the United States."
 
"It will eliminate the incentive to move jobs south of the border," the vice president added.
 
In his speech, Pence touted Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' $1.6 billion investment to convert its two Mack Avenue engine plants into a new Jeep assembly plant.
 
"It's just incredible," he said. "This economy is growing and, frankly, you don't need to hear the statistics to know."
 
Pence previously spoke to the Detroit Economic Club in 2010 as a congressman from Indiana when he was contemplating a White House run in 2012. Pence's speech Monday was the second address he's given to business audiences in metro Detroit since becoming Trump's vice president in 2017.
 
In September, Pence gave a speech at American Axle & Manufacturing's plant in Auburn Hills about the need for slashing the corporate tax rate. Congress approved Trump's tax cuts in December that year.
 
In Congress, ratification of the USMCA has been held up in the House, where Democrats in the majority want changes to the deal.
 
Democrats want stronger labor rights for Mexican workers to boost their wages and lower the likelihood of additional U.S. outsourcing to Mexico as occurred under 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement.
 
Pence asked Detroit business leaders to urge members of Congress to ratify the agreement without changes.
 
"The president has done his job, Canada and Mexico have done their job," Pence said. "Now it's time Congress to do its job."
 
Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.citizenstrade.org/pipermail/ctcfield-citizenstrade.org/attachments/20190820/6c2dd1a3/attachment-0001.html>