North American Free Trade Agreement

The Senate should not consider the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement under Trade Promotion Authority fast-track procedure because the Trump administration has failed to comply with the law, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) said on Thursday.

DeLauro says USMCA still falls short on environmental standards and should not be a model for future deals.

Hoffa: “The renegotiation of NAFTA and the subsequent improvements made by Democratic leadership have resulted in a final package that is superior to the original.”

Senate Finance Committee members Tim Scott (SC) and James Lankford (OK) believe the U.S. should prioritize efforts to strike a bilateral deal with New Zealand next year, a subject Scott said he recently raised with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

The USTR this week has sat for two rare television interviews.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Monday sent Mexican Under Secretary for North America Jesús Seade a letter crafted to reassure Mexico's government that U.S. labor attachés promised in the Trump administration's U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement implementing legislation will not be akin to labor inspectors.

Mexico's under secretary for North America laments the idea of labor attachés “whose function is not clear but Mexico will NEVER accept if ... disguised inspectors, for a simple reason: Mexican law prohibits it.”

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) on Friday announced the White House sent Congress the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement implementing bill, setting up the House Ways & Means Committee to consider the bill on Tuesday.

Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) told Inside U.S. Trade that Ways & Means Committee staff was “literally working around the clock” on the deal’s next steps and “living on junk food so hopefully we’ll see something soon.”