Many Republicans in Congress have been accusing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of dawdling on ratifying the new NAFTA, and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said that if it doesn't come to the floor of the House by the end of October, "I don't think we're gonna get it."
House Democrats and the Trump administration are “on a path to yes” to a bill for ratifying the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on free trade, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters Oct. 2. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., leads a USMCA working group that recently sent the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative a “counteroffer to what the administration has proposed,” Pelosi said. “When we can arrive at a place where not only do we have our issues addressed, but that we have enforceability that will make it real for America’s families and farmers, then we can go down that path.” President Donald Trump says he wants USMCA “to go forward, and we are awaiting the language on enforceability” from USTR, Pelosi said. She’s “hopeful” that House Democrats and USTR will reach agreement on USMCA enforceability, “and I’m hopeful that it will be soon,” she said. “We have a good working relationship” with USTR, she said. “Believe me, the quiet you hear is progress.”
Even as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce gives a nudge to House members by advertising for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 12 districts, a top official is expressing confidence that the negotiations are on track. Neil Bradley, the chief policy officer, told reporters Oct. 1, "Our conversations with Democrats and Republicans lead us to believe we are close." He added, "We’ve kind of set a deadline we believe that USMCA should be passed before Thanksgiving. We picked that based off where we thought the progress was in the negotiations."
Mexico did not live up to its promise to open its market to U.S.-grown potatoes, says Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Colo., who announced Sept. 27 that he's asked Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to do something about it. Tipton's letter dated Sept. 25 mentions that the House is negotiating with the administration on the ratification of the NAFTA rewrite, but does not say he will tie his vote to the potato issue.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, wants to ratify NAFTA 2.0, and believes the House will vote to do so in November or December. But in a speech Sept. 26 at the American Security Project, he told Mexican diplomats in the audience that they need to add more money to their labor budget.
Two Hong Kong bills that could affect trade with the Chinese territory passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee Sept. 25. H.R. 4270, the PROTECT Hong Kong Act, would ban the export of tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray to Hong Kong, so that U.S. companies aren't complicit with crackdowns on protestors (see 1909190040).
When Democrats met in the House of Representatives the morning after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi formally initiated an impeachment inquiry, the bulk of the meeting was an optimistic briefing on the progress toward refining the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to satisfy Democratic priorities.
A bipartisan group of senators asked U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to secure better access for pecan exporters to India as the two countries negotiate a trade deal. In a Sept. 20 letter, the senators urged Lighthizer to work to remove the “existing barriers” pecan exporters are facing, including a 36 percent Indian import tariff, compared with 10 percent tariffs on pistachios and almonds.
The Congressional Research Service issued an updated report on Sept. 13 on retaliatory tariffs and U.S. agriculture, detailing retaliatory tariffs imposed on the U.S. by China, Canada, Mexico, the European Union and more. The 49-page report also includes “key competitors” for China’s agricultural market, which U.S. agricultural sectors have been most affected by the tariffs, and the long- and short-term impacts of the tariffs on U.S. industries and the economy.
Funding for the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. is covered in the continuing resolution that passed the House of Representatives on Sept. 19, and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Sept. 18 that he hopes a long-term reauthorization can be achieved before Nov. 21, when the stop-gap funding measure ends.