Daily Management Review

Democrats "Within Range" Rehashed Nafta, Says US House Speaker Pelosi


11/26/2019




Democrats "Within Range" Rehashed Nafta, Says US House Speaker Pelosi
Democratic lawmakers are "within range of a substantially improved" trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, said the Speaker of the House of the United States Nancy Pelosi on Monday.
 
However she also said that the Democratic law makers also demand that the progress that has been made in the trade negotiations between the three countries be penned down in writing by the US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer so that they can undergo a final review.
 
Changes in the three nations trade agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico to include measures that can ensure appropriate enforcement of labor and environmental standards was demanded by Pelosi. There was lack of enough enforcement tools in the initial rehashed draft of the North American Free Trade Agreement which could have ensured that the ultimate deal does not become a document of a list of promises only made on paper, she said. Changes to a provision they see as a giveaway to big pharmaceutical companies is also being demanded by the US Democrats.
 
The trade deal was referred to as "the new NAFTA" and "NAFTA 2.0" by Pelosi in her statement. This was said in reference to the original trade agreement between the US, Mexico and Canada that was cancelled by US President Donald Trump.
 
"Above all, the NAFTA 2.0 draft lacked the concrete, effective enforcement mechanisms needed to ensure that the agreement became more than a list of promises on paper," Pelosi said.
 
And in their home districts, US lawmakers are facing pressure from business and farm groups that are supportive of the new rehashed Nafta agreement. 
 
Before allowing a vote on an implementation bill, demands of making changes to the pact are being made by Unions form Pelosi. And in response, Pelosi said last week that it may not be until next year that the house would take up the rehashed Nafta deal. This statement has been condemned by Trump.
 
"She's incapable of moving it,". Trump said on Monday, before a meeting with the prime minister of Bulgaria. "It looks like she can't. Everybody knows it's a great deal. She knows it's a great deal; she said it." He has also alleged that Pelosi has been urged by labor unions not to pass the bill without providing any evidence of the same.
 
However the statement issued by Pelosi on Monday has apparently put the ball in the court of the Trump administration which now has to decide and act if it wants the House to take up the matter and get it passed.
 
"We are within range of a substantially improved agreement for America's workers," Pelosi said. "Now, we need to see our progress in writing from the trade representative for final review."
 
(Source:www.cbsnews.com)