House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., said that the two sides made progress again on edits to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement when they met Sept. 20. "Once issues are resolved, they're going to come off the table, and we're not going to revisit them as we proceed to the next one," Neal said. He said the Democrat working group he leads will have a written response for U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer next week, when they meet again.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., who leads the working group that aims to win changes to the NAFTA rewrite to make it more palatable to Democrats, said that "it's time to pick up the intensity of the negotiations" with the administration. "I would prefer now that the pace pick up," he said in an interview on Sept. 19, the day before the working group was to meet with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer for the first time since they received a counterproposal from him.
Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer asking him to prioritize the removal of Section 232 retaliatory tariffs from India, which have resulted in a 70 percent tariff on U.S. apples in that country. Before the U.S. hit Indian steel with 25 percent tariffs, U.S. apples were taxed at 50 percent in India. India held off on retaliation for more than a year, but when the U.S. announced it would terminate India's eligibility for the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, it responded in kind (see 1906170053).
Legislative discussions continue for how to shape legislation in order to regain control of trade policy from the Trump administration as the legislative branch is further pushed to the sidelines, a former senior U.S. trade negotiator said. Barbara Weisel, former assistant U.S. trade representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said Congress is beginning to question how it can retake its constitutionally granted powers over trade, which have been overtaken by the Trump administration and its preference for bilateral negotiations. “One has to believe there are many members of Congress now who are debating and quietly discussing how they are going to adjust this issue,” Weisel said during a Sept. 17 event at the Brookings Institution in Washington, focused on the "America First" trade policy with regard to Japan and Taiwan. “And I think it’s about time.”
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, says he has not been able to see the written counterproposal on the NAFTA rewrite from the USTR to the House Democrat working group, but said that ending the ability to block panels in state-to-state dispute is under discussion. Grassley said his staff has had an overview of the administration's proposals to refine the new NAFTA, known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, "and we look at it as something we can live with." He said he doesn't know how Democrats have received the counterproposal. "I think that’s more important than my reaction to it," he said.
A recently reached U.S.-Japan free trade deal makes up 90 percent of the losses farmers experienced because the U.S. dropped out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, during a Sept. 17 call with reporters. "I haven’t seen anything on paper, but according to [the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative], it puts us on this level playing field with our trading partners," he said.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue said he doesn't believe that the Trump administration will declare victory if Chinese buyers return to buying pork, soybeans and corn. "I don't think it will be an agreement of any type until it's a matter of substance," he said.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce led a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer expressing fear that the mini deal nearing completion with Japan will stall momentum for a broader trade negotiation. "We respectfully urge the Administration to hold fast to its commitment to achieve a comprehensive, high-standard trade agreement with Japan and ensure this initial package does not impede momentum toward such a broader accord." The Chamber and 13 trade groups said a comprehensive trade deal should address services, including express delivery, customs administration and trade facilitation, regulatory cooperation, intellectual property and more.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer sent a written counter-proposal to the House working group the afternoon of Sept. 11, a House Ways & Means spokeswoman said. She declined to say how long and extensive it was.
The trade staff of the House Ways and Means Committee told Democrats who are anxious for a ratification vote on the new NAFTA that the rewrite "will be ready for a vote as soon as it is ready; no sooner, and also no later," in a memo that was structured as an imagined dialogue between a member who wants a vote and the committee chairman, who has a big say on when that vote happens.