[CTC] Citing past deals, Chamber confident of NAFTA 2.0's passage by August

Tue Jun 18 10:40:24 PDT 2019

Citing past deals, Chamber confident of USMCA's passage by August

By Isabelle Hoagland, Inside US Trade

06/17/2019

Citing timelines for the ratification of trade deals with Colombia, South Korea and Panama, U.S. Chamber of Commerce executives say a vote on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is likely to be held before a congressional recess in August.

“We think the objective of securing a vote on USMCA in the House before the August recess is a reasonable goal,” said John Murphy, the Chamber’s senior vice president for international policy, in a briefing for reporters on Monday. “It’s not that we don’t take the concerns that the Democrats have articulated seriously, but we think the gaps are bridgeable.”

Murphy referenced 2011, “when free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and Korea moved forward.”

“There were several months of behind-the-scenes work to get ready for that but Congress approved those three implementing bills just 11 calendar days after they were introduced,” he said. “So, we do think that we can see USMCA move forward here before the August break."

The earliest the administration could send Congress a USMCA implementing bill is July 9, when both the House and Senate are scheduled to be back in session, according to the 2015 Trade Promotion Authority law and congressional calendars. The administration sent a draft statement of administrative action to Congress on May 30; it must wait at least 30 days from that date to send the implementing legislation. The 30-day grace period would expire on Sunday, June 30, but the first week of July is a district work week when Congress is not in session.

Murphy and Chamber Executive Vice President Neil Bradley said USMCA's passage remained the Chamber’s top legislative priority. While outstanding issues between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Democrats continue to be worked on.

Additionally, the Mexican Senate will consider its USMCA bill on Tuesday, which Murphy called “good news.” Additionally, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet with President Trump on Thursday to discuss USMCA and other trade issues. Trudeau will also meet with Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Thursday to discuss USMCA and bilateral economic relations, a Canadian official told Inside U.S. Trade.

“We think these concerns can be addressed and no one should get bogged down in legal questions about how to do this, whether it’s a side letter, something in the implementing bill -- trade lawyers know how to get this kind of thing done,” Murphy continued. Citing TPA guidelines, Murphy said “we are optimistic about the ability to move forward in the weeks after July 9.”

“That leaves us with four weeks in July going up to August recess. This is important work -- we need these talks to advance. We know that the issues that Democrats are raising with the administration are ones that they are taking seriously. They are important, but we think that the gaps are bridgeable,” he added.

Last week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) assigned Democratic leaders to address key areas of concern with USMCA with the administration. Those areas include drug pricing as well as labor, environment and enforcement provisions.

Murphy lauded the move, though he said in some areas “there’s more clarity than others. So, for instance, on enforcement and the concern about panel formation for state-to-state dispute settlement, I think that is an area where [House Ways & Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA)] and others have signaled with some clarity what it is they are talking about. And I think that is pretty well understood,” he said. “Whereas in some of these other areas, it’s not as publicly defined, at least the way I see it. Probably not everybody is going to get everything that they want. That’s the nature of policy-making in Washington in a democracy. But as I said I’m optimistic that these gaps are bridgeable.”

Meanwhile, a private-sector source told Inside U.S. Trade that while it is “pretty easy to figure out what needs to be done on labor and environment,” enforcement and biologics issues are likely to present the biggest hurdles.

“I think enforcement is the hardest one and then access to medicines is hard too because there are people in the coalition of folks that are supporting [USMCA] that could fly off if it goes in the wrong direction and not support [it] anymore,” the source predicted.

Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL), who will lead the enforcement task force along with Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), acknowledged that the group “has a lot of work ahead of it.”

“[H]owever, I am optimistic we can work with United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to ensure the new trade agreement grows the American economy, protects workers and strengthens our relationships with our neighbors,” Sewell said in a June 17 statement.

The USMCA working group is still being “established on the fly,” the source told Inside U.S. Trade.

“It’s one working group. The idea is for all of them to take input in their issue areas from the broad caucus,” the source added. “I think that one thing they view as critical is a group meeting with Lighthizer,” followed by individual breakout sessions.

While the group has yet to meet with Lighthizer, its members hope to do so this week following the House Ways & Means Committee's “trade policy agenda” hearing on Wednesday, the source added. Weekly caucus meetings led by Pelosi also are likely to present opportunities for the working group to advance ideas and meet with Lighthizer, the source contended. How lawmakers will solicit input from outside stakeholders remains unclear, the source noted.

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826

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