USMCA

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.

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 8-12 in case they were missed.

While Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., says progress is being made in the weekly meetings with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, he said he doubts the working group and USTR will have a meeting of the minds on any of the four planks they're negotiating on in the NAFTA rewrite. The issues outstanding are enforcement, the environment, labor and the biologic drug exclusivity period.

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.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said that although under fast track authority the administration could send the implementing bill for the NAFTA rewrite on July 9, the administration will not be doing that. "There's respect for this legislative process and the importance of Pelosi involved this process... the White House is not going to do anything without consulting with her," he said. He referred to White House Chief Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow's comments earlier that morning about the administration's plans.

Leaders of the generally pro-trade New Democrat Coalition warned the U.S. trade representative not to send an implementing bill for the new NAFTA to Congress on July 9. Rep. Derek Kilmer, chairman of the New Dems, and Rep. Gregory Meeks, co-chairman of the group's trade task force, spoke to reporters July 8 about why they sent a letter that day to USTR warning him off.

Even as one panelist said the changes to NAFTA won't really affect her Fortune 500 company, other panelists at the American Association of Exporters and Importers Annual Conference June 27 in Washington agreed that the deal's rewrite is important for the precedent it sets in future trade negotiations.

Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade Gil Kaplan touted trade enforcement, the NAFTA rewrite, and tax cuts and deregulation in a keynote speech to the American Association of Exporters and Importers Annual Conference June 27 in Washington.