USMCA

Although the labor witness at the Senate Finance Committee hearing on the new NAFTA said labor leaders "remain optimistic about the ability to resolve the issues" with the rewrite, Michael Wessel also said they "will not hesitate to oppose" ratification if they are not satisfied. Wessel, who is the staff chairman to the Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy, said the current rewrite, known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, "is not good enough."

The footnote in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that says that the U.S. could change its de minimis level to match Canada's and Mexico's levels was roundly rejected by the Senate Finance Committee on July 30, when the topic was one of the most-discussed aspects of the deal. Paula Barnett, owner of Paula Elaine Barnett jewelry, was the first witness who testified, and she told the committee that she does not want U.S. de minimis levels lowered, because she doesn't have to pay tariffs when goods are returned from outside the country, and because she purchases opals from Mexico, and those purchases are under the $800 threshold.

A Democrat from Texas and one from the San Diego area led a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging a vote on the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement, as the new NAFTA is called, before the end of 2019. Rep. Colin Allred, who defeated a Republican incumbent in the Dallas suburbs, and Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., sent the letter July 26.

Several leaders of the New Democrat Coalition met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer late July 25, and told him that they want him to treat negotiations with the working group on the new NAFTA with a sense of urgency. "Congress members are starting to say, 'Let's get down to brass tacks and figure out how specifically these issues can be addressed," said Rep. Derek Kilmer, chairman of the New Democrats. Kilmer, D-Wash., who described the meeting in a short hallway interview after it concluded, said Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Texas, and Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., also met with Lighthizer.

Five years of data exclusivity for biologics, an end to panel blocking and undefined "mechanisms and resources" to monitor and enforce labor and environmental laws in Mexico are the core of what the House Democrats have asked the Trump administration to change in its NAFTA rewrite. The House Democrats' working group revealed more of what it is asking for in a report sent to the Speaker's office and released publicly July 26. In that report, they wrote, "It is time for the administration to present its proposals and to show its commitment to passing the new NAFTA... ."

Of the 10 Congress members who traveled to Mexico last weekend to evaluate the NAFTA rewrite as part of a congressional delegation, one was already planning to vote for the deal, others were leaning yes, and some others have always opposed free trade deals. For some of those who were leaning yes, their conversations with government officials and institutions that tackle environmental problems near the border moved them closer to voting yes. For others who were already skeptical, they returned even more skeptical.

At a press conference attended by dozens of pro-USMCA trade groups, U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Thomas Donohue said his group is optimistic that the trade pact will get a vote in September. Donohue held his fingers an inch apart and said, "Lighthizer and Nancy Pelosi are this close," he said, referring to negotiations on changes to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and the Speaker of the House. Donohue said the Chamber is "very, very willing to move forward" with small fixes, which he characterized as "ornaments on the tree."

Hundreds of business groups, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, urged Congress to pass the new NAFTA, known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, "as soon as possible," in a letter sent July 23. The letter was signed by trade groups from many sectors, goods and services, importers and exporters and sectors that rely on both, as well as local chambers of commerce from every state. "U.S. manufacturers export more made-in-America manufactured goods to our North American neighbors than they do to the next 11 largest export markets combined, and the two countries account for nearly one-third of U.S. agricultural exports," the groups wrote. "They are also the top two export destinations for U.S. small and medium-size businesses, more than 120,000 of which sell their goods and services to Canada and Mexico."

Could Florida's 27-member delegation vote no on the new NAFTA because seasonality provisions for antidumping laws didn't make it into the agreement? There "certainly have been conversations about that," according to Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a pro-trade Democrat from Florida, who added, "And I think Georgia is another one of the states that is deeply interested in seeing a resolution."

House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., is leading a three-day trip to Mexico to meet with Mexican government officials -- including the president -- and other stakeholders. They are traveling both to the border, where environmental issues are a particular concern, and to Mexico City. The group is getting first-hand information for resolving issues related to passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the NAFTA replacement.