[CTC] Neal: Democrats don’t want NAFTA vote to “languish” into 2020

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Neal: Democrats don’t want USMCA vote to “languish” into 2020
July 16, 2019 at 5:52 PM, Inside US Trade

Congressional Democrats want to ensure a vote on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada
Agreement does not “languish into next year,” House Ways & Means Committee
Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) told reporters on Tuesday after meeting with
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-CA).

Members of the Trump administration and some Republicans in Congress had
hoped for USMCA to be brought to the House floor before Congress recessed
in August. Neal said he does not see the two sides reaching an agreement on
principle before August recess.

Lighthizer has been meeting with a group of Democrats assigned by Pelosi to
work on the caucus’ outstanding concerns with USMCA’s labor, environmental,
pharmaceutical and enforcement provisions. Pelosi reiterated those four
areas of concern during her meeting with Lighthizer and “acknowledged
progress has been made,” Neal said.

“Much of the conversation was on labor and enforcement,” while the
“biologics issue” was “touched on.” Despite progress, Neal said, “we’re all
frustrated.”

Lighthizer and the working group will meet for a third time on Wednesday.
That meeting will focus on USMCA’s environmental provisions. The first
meeting <https://insidetrade.com/node/166755> was on biologics and the
second <https://insidetrade.com/node/166854> was on labor. Members of the
working group will also head to Mexico
<https://insidetrade.com/node/166842> this
weekend to discuss USMCA labor issues with Mexican officials.

At this juncture, Lighthizer “needs to know specifically what we want and
we need to know specifically what he can deliver,” Neal said.

Reopening the deal was not “discussed specifically” at Tuesday’s meeting,
Neal said. “I don’t know -- having reached an agreement with Mexico and
Canada -- what the parameters are for [reopening].”

Pelosi has previously said reopening the deal was necessary to address
Democrats’ concerns with enforceability. Trump administration officials,
including Lighthizer, have said they are not willing to do that.

After Tuesday’s meeting between Pelosi, Neal and Lighthizer, the working
group met to prepare for Wednesday’s meeting with the trade representative.
Working group members discussed “strategy for tomorrow, opening moves,
who’s going to cover what,” Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) told reporters. Gomez
is in charge of handling USMCA labor issues with Lighthizer and is one of
the lawmakers heading to Mexico this weekend. Republican lawmakers are also
expected to go.

At tomorrow’s meeting Democrats will “open it up” and Lighthizer “will
complain we’re moving too slow,” Gomez said.

As far as reopening the deal, Gomez said he is relying on staff and experts
to tell him whether it’s necessary.

“At the same time, if you’re negotiating a final product, if [Lighthizer]
admitted he was going to reopen, he’s basically giving away that he will be
accepting certain changes,” Gomez said. “I don’t think he’s at that place
to say that he’s accepted those changes, therefore he’s not going to tell
us if he’s going to reopen it or not, which is what I would do. Agree to
nothing until you agree to everything. I think that’s the direction we’re
going.”

Lighthizer will make a claim that the deal can’t be reopened and it can be
done in different ways, Gomez said.

“Ok, what does that mean? And is what he’s saying matching up with what is
true? I don’t know that yet. And he hasn’t said this is what we would do to
address our concerns. So until he says what they’re willing to do then
we’ll have a better understanding of whether that’s possible or not,” Gomez
said.

After meeting with her colleagues, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) told
reporters if Lighthizer “would agree with us, we can do it tomorrow.”
Schakowsky is in charge of handling Democratic concerns with the
pharmaceutical provisions of USMCA.

“We’re the ones who have to vote on this. [Lighthizer] has to understand
that -- that if he doesn’t have the votes to make something happen, it’s
not going to happen. So, you know, we feel we have some leverage but we’re
not there yet, we’re just not.”

Lighthizer wants to “speed it up,” Schakowsky said, adding that
negotiations are “pretty much” at the same point as they were when both
sides met last week. -- *Maria Curi* (mcuri at iwpnews.com)

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826
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