Chamber CEO Predicts USMCA Will Be Ratified 'Long Before' Christmas Break

September 16, 2019 |Congress

U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue said that while there are already enough Democrats who want to vote for a new NAFTA to make a majority with Republicans, he understands that the administration will have to make adjustments on "two or three little issues" to get House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring it to a vote, and he said the Chamber "absolutely supports" those changes.

Donohue had seen U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer before holding his press conference Sept. 16, when the USTR also spoke to Chamber leaders from around the country.

The Chamber did not say it would endorse Democratic House members who vote yes on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, as the new NAFTA is known, but said they will counter any attacks on Democrats who voted yes.

Neil Bradley, Chamber executive vice president, said that "being an early supporter and helping build momentum for this is worth a lot more to the U.S. Chamber, to the business community, than being the 270th vote after it's already passed."

They pointed to the 14 Democrats who asked for a vote this fall in a letter to leadership in July (see 1907290040). The Chamber held more than 90 events during the recess, and has had 740 meetings with members or staffs to push for ratification.

Donohue said that most in Congress who have seen the counterproposal from USTR believe "we're moving very much in the right direction" toward enforceability. "And as soon as that gets done I think we'll begin to see some more public voices," he said.

Gov. Doug Ducey, R-Ariz., expressed incredulity that the majority of Arizona's nine-member delegation has not come out in favor of USMCA. Trade with Mexico supports 288,000 jobs in the state, he said, and, he said, they should listen to Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Martha Barcena, who said, "If you care about Mexico, you will be a yes on USMCA."

Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., told International Trade Today earlier this year that both NAFTA and the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) were devastating to Arizona, and suggested that much stricter labor enforcement would be needed to get his vote (see 1906260064).