Grassley Says US Will Have to Open Agriculture Dispute With Mexico After USMCA Ratification
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said recent actions Mexico took to block the import of biotechnology and pesticides (see 2006040031) make him think the U.S. will have to start a state-to-state dispute as soon as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement takes effect. “USMCA follows the principle that that is the very foundation of our international agreements on trade, that everything should be science-based,” he said, in response to a question from International Trade Today. “And science shows that Mexico’s decision is a political decision and not a scientific decision.”
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During a June 9 phone call with reporters, Grassley also reacted to a letter from House Ways and Means Democrats opposing negotiations toward a free trade agreement with Brazil. The two sides are currently negotiating a more narrow trade and investment package, but Brazil desires a future round that would tackle tariffs and market access (see 2006050035).
“I don’t know to what extent we have actually negotiated at this point,” Grassley said of the Brazil talks, which do not require consultation with Congress because whatever is agreed to won't require changes in U.S. laws. But, he said, labor and environment issues seized on by the Democrats are typically part of trade negotiations. “So If some people don’t like what the president of Brazil’s doing, then you just charge our negotiators with negotiating those issues, but you don’t just say: 'We aren't going to negotiate.'”