[CTC] Democrats, USTR Prepare to Keep Working on NAFTA

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Politico Morning Trade

— House Democrats are back in Washington and ready to continue talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to secure changes to the new North American trade pact. And while the Trump administration is legally allowed to send the implementing bill for the deal as soon as today, it's not expected to do so.

DEMOCRATS, USTR PREPARE TO KEEP WORKING ON USMCA: The president could technically submit the implementing bill for USMCA any day now, but today is not expected to be that day. Instead, Democrats on the Hill reiterated their plans to keep working with Trump's trade chief to address their concerns before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi  <http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bd0fb6762c2914970194677f6df340dc43fdd602c0da22545c2a962a987d3a5e357d94aed7858d0f307c78b3ff36c1f>puts the pact to a vote. 

House Democrats appointed to work on changes to USMCA are scheduled to meet with Lighthizer on Thursday. The second formal gathering between the lawmakers and the administration will focus on the pact's labor provisions, according to two sources familiar with the meeting. The working group and Lighthizer haven't had a chance to meet since late June given the G-20 summit and Congress' weeklong break for the July Fourth holiday. 

Work continues: House Democratic aides briefed Monday about the latest on the new pact told Morning Trade they received no indication the Trump administration will drop the implementing bill. "There was a recognition that it's possible, but also that it would be premature," one aide said. 

Another aide noted that Katherine Tai, House Ways and Means majority trade counsel, told staffers that if the Trump administration were to submit the implementing bill, it would be a draft. That means it wouldn't trigger the 90-day clock for Congress to consider the deal under the trade promotion authority law. 

Although a draft of the implementing bill is not bound for Capitol Hill today, there have been ongoing exchanges between Hill staff and the White House on technical issues, a source close to the process said. That includes how to phase in rules of origin and other aspects of the pact, which are complicated by obligations in previous iterations of the deal, including the original NAFTA and bilateral U.S.-Canada trade agreement.

Warning just in case: <http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bd0fb6762c29149e8552a6622bea7c28f6562747fdd1ed2ea210cfc96867712ca7b5725d920c1184aec2fc80ab45d0e> The 103-member New Democrat Coalition warned Lighthizer on Monday to not submit the implementing bill without first addressing Democratic concerns. "We were troubled that you sent up the draft Statement of Administrative Action on May 30 without sufficient consultation, and strongly urge you not to make the same mistake twice," the coalition wrote in a letter. 

Timing question: Rick Dearborn, executive director of the Pass USMCA Coalition and former White House deputy chief of staff, said he believes passing USMCA before the August recess "is a little bit of a stretch." Ratification in September or October "is doable ... there's no such thing as a recess in August. They'll be working hard the whole month."


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/20190709/ee32218f/attachment.html>