Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., who was ranking member on the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., a prominent NAFTA foe, are soliciting signatures for a letter they plan to send later this month on the importance of including Mexican labor reforms in a new NAFTA, now called the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said that while the Democrats have real concerns on how the new NAFTA "will affect trade, how it's going to affect the environment, how it's going to affect prescription drug availability," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has credibility in Congress, and will be listened to. Lighthizer is scheduled to address all Democrats on March 13, the first time he has met with the full caucus.
Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., sent a letter on March 12 formally requesting a Section 232 investigation into the national security impact of carbon pollution caused by imports, his office said in a March 12 press release. The Defense Department has already found that climate change poses immediate risks to national security, and “modes of trade and shipping, whether air, maritime, rail or auto transportation, cause carbon emissions that contribute to global warming,” said the letter, also signed by Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., and Judy Chu, D-Calif.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer heard dozens of questions about the new NAFTA and the fate of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum from about 50 members in the New Democrats caucus, but specifics were few, even as one called it a "good, candid conversation."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not directly answer a question on whether the new NAFTA would be ratified in her chamber, but suggested that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is highly respected and is seen as someone who cares about enforcement. She was speaking March 8 at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. Pelosi noted that she voted for the original NAFTA, and believes trade in the region is "very important," though she also said that in some ways, NAFTA did not live up to expectations. She said that her members are worried about treatment of pharmaceuticals in the rewrite, as well as the environment, and labor rights in Mexico, but she said, "whatever is agreed to in those three areas, the most important element of a trade agreement is enforcement. If you don't have enforcement, you ain't got nothing, because it's just a conversation, a list of things."
While U.S. textile manufacturers and apparel industries “have expressed overall support” for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the two sectors disagree on several key provisions, including certain rules of origin and enforcement procedures, according to a March 5 report by the Congressional Research Service.
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C. reintroduced a bill that would establish a task force in the Commerce Department to investigate potential trade abuses, with the goal of helping small and medium-sized businesses that lack the resources to bring antidumping cases to the department. "Michigan’s cherry industry and our state’s manufacturers in particular have faced these challenges, and they often lack the legal teams needed to elevate these issues," Peters said in announcing the S.B. 564, which was introduced Feb. 26. The press release also quoted cherry farmers like Isaiah Wunsch, who said, "Farmers and other small business owners currently have few administrative options when we are faced with dumping or other unfair trade practices, because the cost and complexity associated with investigating and litigating these issues can present major financial and technical barriers to small family businesses." The same bill was introduced in February 2018, and was later joined by Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Angus King, I-Maine, and Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
Eight of the 10 members of Arizona's congressional delegation, including both senators, have signed a letter to the Commerce Secretary arguing that the suspension of the Mexico tomato agreement is not in the national interest. "We encourage the Administration to continue to craft agricultural trade policy that seeks to strengthen the industry nationally, not one that is calibrated around regional or seasonal interests," the March 1 letter said. They encouraged Commerce to revise the tomato suspension agreement rather than terminate it without a replacement, because the latter move would create uncertainty in the supply chain and could trigger retaliation against agriculture exports.
Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-Calif., and Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, on Feb. 26 introduced H. 1376, which would require the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to study whether Cambodia's participation in the Generalized System of Preferences program should be limited, suspended or ended. The bill follows the January introduction in the Senate of S. 34, the Cambodia Trade Act. That bill was introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and has since been joined by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. (see 1901100016). Lowenthal said Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen "and his regime must pay a price for their role in destroying the rule of law and violating the basic freedoms of the Cambodian people.” Cambodia's participation in the GSP beneficiary program was re-approved in April 2018.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told the House Agriculture Committee that a failure to ratify the NAFTA replacement "would be devastating," and he said he hopes all House members understand how damaging that would be to the agricultural economy. Perdue said there's a lot of energy and momentum among the groups lobbying for passage, but acknowledged that "the trickiness of the [Section] 232s" makes it more difficult to get the deal through. Because of the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, Mexico and Canada are levying tariffs on U.S. pork, cheese and other agricultural products.