FTA Central

Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin has had “very high-level” discussions with his counterparts from Trans-Pacific Partnership countries on a possible return to the trade pact, although re-entry is not a priority for the U.S. today, Mnuchin said Tuesday.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has shared new text on labor with cleared advisers and Capitol Hill but will not put forward that text at the seventh North American Free Trade Agreement negotiating round in Mexico City this week, sources said.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Sunday summoned the agency’s chief rules-of-origin negotiator back from the seventh round of NAFTA talks so he can participate in rare meetings with U.S. auto representatives in Washington called for by the USTR, sources told Inside U.S. Trade.

As President Trump continues to voice criticism of trade agreements and the international trading system, U.S. governors and foreign leaders are stepping up their defense of trade and NAFTA in particular – a message the governors will deliver in meetings with Cabinet officials and lawmakers this week.

Democrats on the House Ways & Means Committee are demanding hearings on the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. In a Feb. 22 letter to trade subcommittee Chairman Dave Reichert (R-WA), ranking member Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) and 14 other Democrats say neither the trade panel nor the full committee has held a hearing with an administration witness since the renegotiation effort kicked off last year.

“Based on the information we’ve received from those who have taken part in the talks, we’re sure that labor issues will not be an obstacle to concluding the negotiation of the deal.”

“U.S. services providers and digital trade will be at a severe disadvantage, risking $88 billion in U.S. services exports to Canada and Mexico and the nearly 600,000 high-paying American jobs those exports support.”

Chile plans to host the signing on March 8.