Members of Congress Continue to Push Back on NAFTA Withdrawal Threat

Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who will be majority leader in the new Congress, told reporters that President Donald Trump would be making a mistake if he gives notice to Congress that he's withdrawing the U.S. from NAFTA, a move he's said he intends to make shortly (see 1812030040). Hoyer, who voted for NAFTA back in 1993, said that the rewrite was only just signed Friday, Nov. 30, and Congress cannot act until certain timetables in the fast-track law are satisfied. For example, the International Trade Commission is working on an economic analysis of the pact, and it won't be ready until March.

"For the president to be talking about withdrawing from NAFTA, and in effect, stamping his feet and saying, I'm going to take my ball and go home, is not appropriate," Hoyer said Dec. 4. He said that members of Congress are still digesting the text and need to hear from voters about "what they think the ramifications of that [rewrite] would be. I would hope the president of the United States would allow that democratic process to continue and not to threaten that he's going to take action, which would have very negative, harmful effects in the short term and maybe in the long term."

While Hoyer said he thinks Trump does have the authority to initiate a withdrawal after six months, Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said he doesn't know if Trump does have that authority. Would a notice of withdrawal make it harder to ratify the new NAFTA? According to Hoyer, "I think it probably would. It would create more controversy than is necessary in the context of something that's very controversial anyway."