Ways and Means Chairman Publicly Tells Lighthizer New NAFTA Falls Short
House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., who voted against NAFTA the first time around, told U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer "this time needs to be different." Neal, who released a letter he sent to the USTR on April 9, said that persistently low wages in Mexico led to more U.S. manufacturing jobs being moved there, just as he'd seen factories close in New England in the 1970s and 1980s to move to lower wage states and countries.
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"NAFTA became a four letter word in many communities and those scars are still deeply felt," Neal wrote. He said the complaints Democrats had about environmental standards in 1993 are the same as they see in the successor agreement. He said Democrats believe that there must be "mechanisms inside the agreement to ensure that those [labor and environment] provisions (and other provisions) are enforceable and will make a difference."
And, he said, Democrats want to make sure that both Americans and foreigners can afford their health care -- a shot across the bow on biologics. He also said those terms must "preserve Congress’s space to make future policy changes." The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.