USMCA Working Group Member Says USTR a Bit Evasive on Changes Administration Can Make
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a member of the House working group negotiating with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, said the second meeting, held the morning of July 11, was interesting, like the first. Schakowsky, D-Ill., whose area of interest in the group is the provision for biologic drug makers, said that topic was covered at the first meeting, before the Fourth of July break.
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"It hasn't gelled yet in terms of what changes we're going to get," she said in a brief hallway interview with International Trade Today. When asked if Lighthizer responds when Democrats put forth a specific proposal on how they want the agreement changed, she said, "yes and no. He's good! But he's also [saying]: 'At some point this has to end.' We get that. But we also want some definitive answers about changes."
Schakowsky said she doesn't know how negotiations might continue -- or whether they would pause -- during the August recess if the details haven't been worked out before then.