Tag: NAFTA

Phillips Touts Support for Strong, Bipartisan USMCA Trade Deal

WASHINGTON, DC – At a press conference today, Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) stood with House leaders to announce a strong and enforceable USMCA trade deal that will improve the American economy, safeguard workers’ rights, protect the environment, and improve access to affordable prescription drugs.

 “I’m on a mission to restore Americans’ faith in our government, and the USMCA deal we announced today is exactly how our process should work,” said Phillips. “Republicans and Democrats in Congress, the White House, businesses, and labor organizations came together to forge a strong and solvent deal that is good for everyone. Whether it’s increasing patients’ access to affordable prescriptions, protecting workers, or keeping international markets open for Minnesota businesses  – this deal is proof that we all win when everyone comes to the table in good faith.”

 Rep. Phillips was heavily involved in the passage of the trade deal, both through the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus and as an individual lawmaker. He pushed hard for fixes related to drug prices and labor enforcement, and convened a September meeting with Cargill CEO Dave MacLennan and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Washington to discuss the negotiations. Continue reading “Phillips Touts Support for Strong, Bipartisan USMCA Trade Deal”

The NAFTA Report That Could Do More Damage Than Mueller

With all the coverage of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and still-confidential report, President Donald Trump’s political future does not appear to be closely tied to the Russia investigation. Without ground-shaking conclusions that completely reframed his presidency for the Republican Party and is leadership, there’s never been much chance that the report could lead to him being removed from office.

But there’s another forthcoming report that really could do serious damage to the president, even if there’s been almost no coverage of it so far. It’s a report from the International Trade Commission on the future effects of Trump renegotiated version of NAFTA, which the president calls the USMCA

As the Toronto Star’s Daniel Dale reported, the ITC report is set to come out on April 19. And few expect it to show much of an upside for the United States or Trump.

Dale wrote:

At best, experts say, the ITC report expected by April 19 is likely to show a very small positive impact.

View the complete April 4 article by Cody Fenwick on the National Memo website here.

Trump’s border threats complicate trade pact talks

Replacement for NAFTA already faces assortment of challenges on Capitol Hill

The Trump administration’s sales pitch for a new trade deal with America’s northern and southern neighbors has a long way to go, and the president’s threat to close the U.S. border with Mexico does not appear to be helping matters.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday amid renewed concern he may seek to shut down the flow of traffic between the two countries, a move that would by definition make free trade impossible.

The president was still considering closing ports of entry at the southern border because “Democrats are leaving us absolutely no choice at this point,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday, although it was not clear how closing legal ports of entry would stem illegal entry to the country, which the administration has made its premier issue.

View the complete April 2 article by Niels Lesniewski on The Roll Call website here.

Trump’s Trade Deal and the Road Not Taken

A Ford Motor Company worker works on an assembly line. Credit: Bill Pugliano, Getty Images

How to Evaluate the Renegotiated NAFTA

Overview

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), President Trump’s 2018 revision to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), misses the chance to place workers at the center of U.S. trade priorities. Congress should insist on an approach that does.

Introduction and summary

American workers’ real wages have been stagnant for decades. While a wide range of domestic forces have led to that outcome—from a decline in union coverage to the slow and uneven recovery from the Great Recession1—trade has also played an important role in generating economic stress. Capital is increasingly mobile across country borders, yet workers are not. Business, in effect, can level an ultimatum to workers: Accept what we offer, or we will outsource or move to another country where wages are lower. Millions of working families have personally experienced this threat in recent decades, and the resulting economic stress on many American workers—especially in the Midwest—has been significant. Continue reading “Trump’s Trade Deal and the Road Not Taken”

What Democrats Want from NAFTA Retooling

Here’s what Democrats want from a rework of NAFTA:

Any new deal must raise wages, protect workers’ rights and freedoms, reduce outsourcing and put the interests of working families first.

Despite Trump’s claims, there is no new trade deal:

We have yet to see the details of the understanding reached between Trump and Mexico, provisions are still being negotiated, Canada has not even entered into negotiations, and the deal would still have to be approved by Congress before Trump can claim credit.

We have to wait and see the details, but if we have learned anything over the past two years it is that we cannot trust Trump to stand up for workers.

The American people — particularly workers — must be able to review any agreement Trump reaches to make sure it delivers and can be enforced in a way that protects workers and communities going forward.

Trump has no clear strategy and has given workers no confidence that he’s putting their interests first.

 

Trump Announces Trade Pact with Mexico

The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the Roll Call website August 27, 2018:

Deal comes amid efforts to update NAFTA but excludes Canada

Credit: Carolyn Kaster, AP Photo

Updated 1:24 p.m. | President Donald Trump on Monday announced a trade deal with Mexico aimed at revamping parts of the North American Free Trade Agreement, but Canadian officials still must sign off on the pact.

The president hailed the preliminary pact as a “big deal” in a Monday morning tweet, but — at least for now — it does not include Canada. Trump said during an Oval Office announcement that the new pact would not be called NAFTA.

The president dubbed the pact the “United States-Mexico Trade Agreement,” saying he wants to do away with the NAFTA moniker because it carries negative connotations.

“It’s a big day for trade. It’s a big day for our country,” Trump told reporters.

View the complete article here.

Trump’s ‘America first’ strategy for NAFTA talks won’t benefit US worker

The following article by Robert A. Blecker, Professor of Economics, American University, was posted on the Conversation website July 27, 2017, and updated August 15, 2017:

A technician repairs computer monitors at Amcor Service Solutions, a part of Tecma Group, which operates 18 maquiladoras for 33 companies in the Mexican northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. AP Photo/Raymundo Ruiz

The Trump administration is plowing ahead with plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico, with talks beginning Aug. 16.

Having made restoring the United States’ manufacturing might a cornerstone of his “America first” nationalism, Trump seems to think that obtaining what he believes would be a better “deal” with our two closest neighbors will accomplish that goal.

Unfortunately, renegotiating NAFTA – especially as planned by Trump’s trade team – is unlikely to bring significant benefits to U.S. workers. Continue reading “Trump’s ‘America first’ strategy for NAFTA talks won’t benefit US worker”

On Trade, a Politically Feisty Trump Risks Economic Damage

The following article by Peter S. Goodman was posted on the New York Times website April 30, 2017:

Trucks waiting to enter the United States at the border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, in February. Credit Jorge Duenes/Reuters

As political theater, the threat last week from the Trump administration that it would pull the United States out of the North American Free Trade Agreement effectively enhanced the White House story line. From the campaign through his first 100 days in office, President Trump adroitly exploited the most conspicuous downsides of trade in portraying himself as a hero to those who go to work in coveralls.

But as economic policy, the feisty words — quickly downgraded to a pledge to “renegotiate” terms of trade with Mexico and Canada — potentially imperil significant swaths of the American economy. Continue reading “On Trade, a Politically Feisty Trump Risks Economic Damage”