[CTC] Chamber lobby sees Congress moving on NAFTA without fulfilling Democratic demand for renegotiation

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Let’s prove them wrong by keeping steady contacts into MOCs over the remainder of this recess and the weeks to come…

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/chamber-lobby-sees-congress-moving-on-usmca-without-fulfilling-democratic-demand-for-renegotiation <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001gQX-049j6u-6PGI7rooFazwiHFOG8oG_71TNU67yF14X6GuKTNlIRh7yna1Ucs9NF4Ounjptzd-HPI4jnICF4wsXQL1tYgkjw34LpVRK1oyrPVj1necjJTTCVjI0mA7fhwdFMqmolyjTRGgDivNuVQE40MRhNH01nJKbx4hhp5HmwKdRNdxo1EYRbVqXzVf9i-xiBiWxNy6ZDc45RM_IcfowB2n4AcQWUj9cE4NlDZyWJVJOg_q3Q3hKBewSVSJCq13YzVAZsG0hGXHWLe3nui2YhNLlvnPZPlmrxr0vxhYCnDVz9AazLYnkQx9AQdUD&c=UTy8dgHjeosZKtma2IY4LRNEETbQD7lJnNy37j32XfBJYRBoDJEzrQ==&ch=Hbiie8rs6cxTP__Du2yxsennhs9HZR2tVmehDi8LyvcfSgfhictBzQ==>

Chamber lobby sees Congress moving on USMCA without fulfilling Democratic demand for renegotiation

Sean Higgins
May 29, 2019

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce sees congressional Democrats backing off their demand that President Trump's U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade must be renegotiated between the three countries.

House Democratic buy-in would remove a major roadblock to finishing the deal, which would replace the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement but still needs congressional approval.

Instead, Democrats are increasingly open to alternative means of resolving “lingering concerns” over the deal, said John Murphy, the Chamber of Commerce’s senior vice president for international policy. The chamber has been tracking the negotiations closely and is in touch with administration officials and members of Congress.

“There is a lot of confidence that it can be done without going back to the negotiating table with Canada and Mexico,” Murphy said.

Canada and Mexico "have made quite clear they don’t want to reopen the agreement — even on issues that some might regard as making the deal more favorable to them,” Murphy said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has previously insisted that USMCA must be rewritten before the House takes it up for a vote. In particular, she has demanded that the deal's enforcement provisions be included in the treatment, not in separate "implementing legislation." Democrats' top concerns include enforcement of the deal’s rules relating to labor standards, especially as they apply to Mexico, and pharmaceutical pricing.

Trump said last week that the administration was holding back on submitting the USMCA to Congress, but could do so soon. “[U.S. Trade Representative] Bob Lighthizer, who you can speak to you if you want, he’s waiting to get the okay from her to send it in. But we’re at a point where we’re just going to have to send it in. It’s all ready,” he told reporters.

Formally submitting the deal to Congress would set a deadline for USMCA's approval. Under Trade Promotion Authority, the law covering submitting deals to Congress, House lawmakers would have to vote on it in 60 days.

Murphy said that is unlikely the White House will submit USMCA without a green light from Democrats. “What I’m seeing is that the administration recognizes the need to work with congressional Democrats and they are doing it in a very thoughtful and substantive way,” he said.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office said they had no announcement regarding submission of USMCA to Congress. A spokesperson for Pelosi did not respond to a request for comment.

Relations between Trump and congressional Democratic leaders have been difficult. The president last week abruptly cut short a White House meeting with Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on infrastructure and trade issues after the leaders held a caucus meeting on impeachment proceedings.

The administration’s lead negotiator with Congress on USMCA, however, is Lighthizer, who is on much friendlier terms with the Democrats. Multiple people involved in the discussions described the talks as productive, if slow. Earlier this month, Pelosi pledged to create working groups of lawmakers to work with the USTR’s office to iron out the party’s remaining concerns regarding USMCA.

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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