[CTC] NAFTA supporters up pressure for passage with TV spots, op-eds

[Arthur Stamoulis]

USMCA supporters up pressure for passage with TV spots, op-eds

Inside U.S. Trade
03/12/2019

Supporters of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement are ramping up pressure on lawmakers to pass the deal, including a new television ad calling USMCA a “win” for the U.S.

Implementing legislation for the agreement has not yet been introduced in Congress. Once it is introduced, the bill will have to pass both the Democratically-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate within 90 days, according to the Trade Promotion Authority timeline.

“All across America, a new era of economic and creative prosperity is within reach,” states the ad, which will air for three weeks in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC. “The U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement will level the playing field for our workers, consumers, and farmers with more free markets, fairer trade, and robust economic growth. By increasing exports, raising wages, and accelerating innovation, it will propel U.S. trade into the 21st century. Call Congress today. Urge swift passage of the USMCA -- because a win for workers is a win for America.”

The ad is part of a “seven-figure” campaign from the Pass USMCA Coalition, as the release said. The group has been making efforts to bring trade-friendly Democrats on board with the deal <https://www.mcclatchydc.com/latest-news/article227407539.html>, according to reports, with former Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) -- defeated by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) in a primary challenge last year -- heading up Democratic outreach efforts.

The group was also identified in a Fort Worth Star-Telegram article <https://www.star-telegram.com/latest-news/article226772489.html> as part of a push to court the Texas congressional delegation, which was key to the passage of NAFTA in the 1990s.

The Texas Association of Business was quoted in the article saying it had been asked by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to reach out to new Texas Democrats in particular.

Farmers are also mobilizing. Four recent op-eds have called on Congress to pass USMCA to provide certainty to farmers -- with some of them also claiming disaster for farmers if President Trump withdrew from NAFTA without an alternative in place.

“There is a worse scenario for us to worry about,” wrote a Texas rice farmer in the Houston Chronicle <https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/Texas-rice-farmers-hurt-by-unresolved-trade-13665839.php>. “If the USMCA doesn’t pass, the U.S. could end up pulling out of NAFTA completely. This would be a huge loss for farmers everywhere.”

Two dairy farmers -- one writing in for Utah’s Deseret News <https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900059490/guest-opinion-utah-farmers-need-congressional-leaders-to-fight-for-usmca.html> and the other for the Utica, NY, Observer-Dispatch <https://www.uticaod.com/opinion/20190302/guest-view-milking-states-dairy-farmers-must-end> -- touted the renegotiated deal’s expected impact for their industry and urged others to “stand up and make our voices heard” in supporting USMCA.

American Farm Bureau Federation, the largest farm organization in the country, has also thrown its weight behind the agreement. In an op-ed for The Hill <https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/431237-congress-should-ratify-usmca-trade-deal-now>, President Zippy Duvall noted that U.S. agriculture depends on trade, especially with Canada and Mexico. Trade, he added in pushing Congress to ratify the deal, “depends on good relationships with our two closest trading partners.”

The second-largest farm group, however, declined to formally back USMCA during its national convention last week in Washington state. National Farmers Union voted for a “Special Order of Business <https://nfu.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Trade-SOB-030519.pdf>” on trade issues, which advocated for “strong export markets and fair trade to maintain commodity prices and farm revenues.”
The document expressed support for trade agreements “when properly constructed.”

“Trade agreements should also include labor and environmental standards, and protect national sovereignty,” the group said. It also called on the administration to use the World Trade Organization as a “neutral arbiter in trade” to work with allies to address unfair trading practices by China.

“Finally,” the farm group concluded, “we call on Congress and the Administration to work to remove retaliatory tariffs that target family farmers and until they are removed, provide financial support to family farmers impacted by trade disputes.”

Dickinson Wright trade lawyer Dan Ujczo, whose firm maintains a USMCA “war room” to measure support for the deal, estimated this week that the administration still needs to secure 75 to 80 votes to ensure the deal's passage. He told Inside U.S. Trade organized labor was key; many major labor groups have yet to make a final decision on whether to support the deal.

In January, Ujczo had put the count at 85 to 110 <https://insidetrade.com/node/165467>.
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