[CTC] Neal: White House has more 'enthusiasm' about working with Democrats on new NAFTA

[Arthur Stamoulis]

POLITICO Pro
Neal: White House has more 'enthusiasm' about working with Democrats on new NAFTA

By Sabrina Rodriguez 
04/30/2019 03:23 PM EDT

House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal <http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=aeef3108d1375aec38e75e05e6b836bc079c5e26e530ef350e6714974d0f8dc7acb16c8801337a5dd71fdca2e7131971> said Tuesday he was more optimistic about the Trump administration's efforts to work with Democrats to get the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement passed by Congress.

Neal attended the White House meeting on moving forward on an infrastructure package. That discussion also turned to the president's top legislative priority during the meeting, passing the USMCA, he said.

"I sensed at the White House today that there was a bit more enthusiasm for moving it along," Neal told reporters. "I was pretty clear on the idea that I thought they had to continue to negotiate with labor, all of which, by the way, they were receptive to."

However, he wasn't ready to indicate whether USMCA will get passed in Congress this year. Asked whether he believes it will pass in 2019, he said: "It's hard to say right now."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer <http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=aeef3108d1375aec2115d4fff2cefb0a6fe34e1cba6d6ebaee4fb11ad4b1257a77f6fae7156868a0dce6419d73c74b92> also indicated that Trump and White House officials pressed for details on what Democrats are seeking to pass the new deal.

House Democrats remain concerned about whether the agreement's labor and environment standards are strongly enforceable. They have also been worried about intellectual property provisions they say could lock in high prescription drug prices.

"We indicated that most felt that we're not there yet," Neal told reporters. 

Speaker Nancy Pelosi <http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=aeef3108d1375aec97c04121766e1faf0f629945fac491e03cd554980208f005c5cc6a35ed38008d3fba58d9574b07d0> told Trump that enforcement is a key part of getting the deal passed, Neal said.

Neal added he spoke with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Monday morning to discuss what remains to be worked out with the replacement deal for NAFTA. He added that there "was wide praise" for Lighthizer in the meeting.

"All of a sudden I see an opening for some of these things — not [USMCA] alone but infrastructure" and other issues, Neal said.


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/20190501/4fbfbdd2/attachment.html>