[CTC] Pelosi: Enforcement must be ‘central’ to USMCA, not ‘peripheral’

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Pelosi: Enforcement must be ‘central’ to USMCA, not ‘peripheral’
Inside U.S. Trade
03/08/2019
Democrats will demand that the enforcement of key U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement provisions is an integral part of the deal and not a side issue, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said on Friday.

“The most important element of a trade agreement is enforcement. If you don’t have enforcement, you ain’t got nothin’ because it’s just a conversation or it’s just a list of things,” she said at an Economic Club luncheon event, adding that she has emphasized to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer “that we have to see the enforcement be central to the trade agreement, not peripheral to it.”

Pelosi named environmental, labor and pharmaceutical provisions as the main Democratic concerns when it comes to enforcement. Democrats have said they would like to see more robust environmental and labor protections and have argued the 10-year protection for biologic drugs in the agreement will raise drug prices.

Lighthizer has a good relationship with lawmakers, Pelosi said, and he is meeting with members regularly. Pelosi noted that she voted for the original NAFTA.

“I took a lot of heat for doing it and I had some disappointments that didn’t live up to certain aspects of it, but our trade within our hemisphere -- just now talking Mexico, Canada and the United States -- is very important,” she said. She also warned President Trump against withdrawing from NAFTA to force Congress’ hand.

“When the president says, ‘Unless you get this new deal, we’re canceling the old one,’ that’s not a good idea,” she said, and reiterated, “That’s not a good idea.”

The agreement must pass both chambers of Congress, giving Pelosi a lot of power to stymie or even stall the deal, as she has done with trade agreements in the past.

The speaker didn’t offer a timeline for the deal's consideration. Trump on Friday told reporters that Congress would be receiving the implementing legislation “shortly,” although he also did not offer specifics.

“Mexico, Canada is done,” he said. “We’ll be submitting to Congress very shortly. And that’s a great deal for the United States, so we’re very happy about that.”

Once submitted, lawmakers have 90 days to vote up or down on the agreement, without changes.
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