North American Free Trade Agreement

House Democrats working with the Trump administration on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement say a newly announced impeachment investigation into the president is unlikely to derail USMCA in Congress.

And the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Chuck Grassley (R-IA), warned Democrats against mixing the two issues.

“There is still an opportunity to address the unfair treatment of cattle and beef in this trade agreement, which has resulted in economic harm over the years to cow-calf producers, backgrounders, and feedlot operators.”

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has proposed changes to language that led to a 2017 U.S. loss in a labor case involving Guatemalan labor practices in his pitch to House Democrats working on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Inside U.S. Trade has learned.

A group of House Democrats next week will present U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer a response to the agency’s attempt to address concerns with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) said on Friday, adding that the two sides had agreed to “intensify” negotiations.

The Commerce Department and Mexican tomato growers on Thursday signed a final agreement that will suspend a U.S. antidumping investigation into fresh tomatoes from Mexico, despite reservations from the growers about an included inspection mechanism.

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said on Thursday that Congress must pass the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement by Thanksgiving or the deal won’t be ratified at all, putting the onus solely on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to bring an implementing bill to the House floor.

“There's a lot of uncertainty in this industry. And this negotiation is looking for certainty for the next four years for these workers.”