North American Free Trade Agreement

“We’ve seen just visceral opposition to everything that this president proposes. So it’s going to be a tough sell, but I certainly hope we can do it.”

The intellectual property chapter of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement does not include so-called “fair use” exceptions to copyright law, including instead a U.S.-style notice-and-takedown regime for internet service providers -- but not requiring that Canada change its ISP liability system.

Cheese faces a 25 percent tariff in Mexico, which was previously a duty-free dairy market for the U.S.

The North American trade deal struck earlier this week includes safeguard provisions that differ dramatically from what the U.S. and Mexico agreed to in bilateral talks, eliminating some compensation requirements and immunity for Mexico from future safeguard actions, according to trade advisory committee reports submitted last week.

Tucked into the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is a provision designed to make it more difficult for Canada and Mexico, and potentially other countries, to ink free trade deals with China -- the latest move by the Trump administration to constrain Beijing’s non-market practices.

“I think it’s going to pass and I think it’s going to pass with a substantial majority.”

Several Democratic lawmakers are warning the administration that more engagement on the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is needed before the deal is voted on in Congress next year, when their party could be in control of one or both chambers.

Key advisory committees chartered to evaluate trade deals have stopped short of fully endorsing the labor provisions in the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, though their reports recognize improvements over language included in prior trade deals including the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Many lawmakers on Capitol Hill are praising the announcement of a trilateral NAFTA 2.0 -- now known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which came together late Sunday night -- but Democrats say they will be reviewing closely whether it includes strong, enforceable labor standards.