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“This is part of Canada’s ongoing commitment to help improve labour standards and working conditions in Canada and Mexico.”
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is working on a “rapid-response” enforcement approach for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that borrows heavily from a proposal introduced by two key Democratic senators earlier this year, Inside U.S. Trade has learned.
Senate Finance Committee members on Tuesday addressed U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement enforcement options that the Trump administration and House Democrats might consider as they work to reach agreement on areas of concern with the deal.
In a progress report sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Friday, the House Democrats' U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement working group said it intended to send detailed text to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer next week, calling on USTR to respond with counteroffers.
The plan is intended “to replicate as closely as possible all substantive and procedural aspects” of the current appeals process and can only be used if the Appellate Body ceases to function.
New Democrat Coalition members this week encouraged U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to continue working with a group of House lawmakers on U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement issues before moving forward with ratification, hoping they can make progress even during the August congressional recess, Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) told Inside U.S. Trade.
“Mexico is hardest hit and the United States the least,” states the paper, published by a Canadian think tank.
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), the House chief deputy whip, said on Wednesday that Congress would pass the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement this year, hinting at a significant number of Democrats likely to support it.
A group of private-sector witnesses is slated to appear before the panel on July 30.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, joined by 600 other business associations across the country, is urging Congress to approve the U.S.- Mexico-Canada Agreement as soon as possible.
Concerns that a controversial de minimis provision could be included in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s implementing legislation continue to vex House lawmakers from both sides of the aisle who have raised the issue in recent talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
The letter calls for amending the deal to reflect “the balance achieved in the bipartisan May 10, 2007, agreement.”
House Democrats tapped to work with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on outstanding concerns with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement lauded progress after talks on Wednesday, though one lawmaker assigned to address labor issues said tensions were rising over the pace of negotiations.
The United Kingdom should not expect to be rewarded with a bilateral trade agreement with the U.S. if the country exits the European Union without a deal, House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) said on Wednesday.
Despite USMCA, they say, U.S. producers “remain concerned that access to Canada’s market will continue to be inhibited based on Canada’s requirement that strictly limits the varieties of wheat that can be included in its premium classes.”
The farm group wants changes to labor, enforcement, environmental and biologics provisions.
Asked if House Sepaker Pelosi’s public calls to re-open the agreement were sparked by pressure from first-term Democrats – and would give her cover to say she tried if she failed – Grassley responded, “Yes to both questions.”
“We do not want to pass this agreement just slightly different from NAFTA with a little sugar on top and say, ‘See, we did something different.’ If it isn't really going to be enforceable, it will just be NAFTA with sugar on top.”
The administration “can make some changes” to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to win Democratic votes, President Trump said on Wednesday, while House Ways & Means trade subcommittee chairman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) said his caucus was “open” to negotiating how those adjustments could be made.