agreement on revised NAFTA trade pact / Dems and WH

[anatta]

The USMCA, while not a major overhaul of NAFTA, includes notable changes to rules governing production of automobiles and parts and resolving disputes between governments and private investors.

It also contains new or updated provisions on digital trade, financial services and other areas of commerce that were not major factors when NAFTA was ratified a quarter-century ago.

Tariffs in North America already were almost entirely removed by NAFTA, so the updated accord isn’t likely to have much impact on the pace of exports of U.S. farm goods to Mexico and Canada.
At the same time, farmers have been unsettled by the trade war with China, and completing the North American trade agreement, they said, would reduce some of the worries about the future.

“It just causes uncertainty with the threat of companies wanting to look for other sources,” said Michelle Jones, who with her family farms wheat and barley in central Montana, and has been closely following the trade discussions from 2,000 miles away. Mexico is the largest export market for U.S. barley and also a big buyer of wheat.

Even though Trump and the heads of Canada and Mexico formally signed the proposed USMCA more than a year ago, it was only in the last few months that Lighthizer began negotiating with a working group of House Democrats. He went back and forth in an effort to reach a compromise on changes that Pelosi and her colleagues demanded, even as partisan rancor intensified in Washington over impeachment proceedings.

More recently Lighthizer stepped up the talks with Mexico. And throughout last week he and Mexico’s undersecretary for North America, Jesús Seade, were ensconced in meetings in Washington.

To ensure compliance, some House Democrats and labor groups had pressed to allow U.S. inspectors at Mexican plants and for the ability to block goods at the border for noncompliance with rules on collective bargaining and other workers’ rights.

U.S. and Mexican officials also wrangled over what kinds of steel would be allowed to meet the USMCA’s new requirement that 70% of the metal for car production be sourced in North America.

Mexican authorities and business owners have balked at the idea of U.S. inspectors in Mexican plants, calling it an infringement on their national sovereignty — always a sensitive issue in relations with their bigger American neighbor.

Last spring Mexico passed new labor law reforms under its populist leftist president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in large part to align with the revised trade accord.

Still, in a nation with relatively few independent unions — labor syndicates have long been allied with political parties or the government, and are notorious for siding with management — there is clearly a fear that the presence of U.S. labor inspectors could empower Mexican workers to start truly independent unions, and push for higher wages and other labor rights.

Moreover, sources monitoring the talks said that companies in Mexico, including multinationals, had pushed back on language that would allow shipments to be stopped at the border as a penalty if they failed to comply.

It wasn’t clear that Mexico had agreed to all the terms, but it appeared enough to have met Democrats’ demands for meaningful enforcement of labor standards.

On Monday, the AFL-CIO and its president, Richard Trumka, gave a crucial vote of support for the deal.

While the agreement on labor enforcement marks a key breakthrough, Pelosi has said she wants to see any White House changes to the accord in writing.

House Democrats are expected to hold so-called mock markups on a draft bill with the text of the trade accord, a procedure that would allow lawmakers, business groups and other parties to react and possibly seek additional changes.

“Given the limited time remaining on the 2019 congressional calendar, and the possibility that the presidential election will deter consideration of the agreement in 2020, there is a significant chance that the USMCA will not be implemented in the near-term,” Brian Picone and Scott Lincicome, trade experts at the international law firm White & Case, wrote in a recent assessment of the outlook for USMCA.

Daniel Ujczo, a trade lawyer at the firm Dickinson Wright, said: “Everybody’s going to have to take a look and see if it’s go or no-go. What does the private sector, what do the stakeholders think of this deal that’s been made? Many trade deals have been made during markups, and many more have been sent back for more work.”

He added, “So we’re just entering a very important phase right now. And that process is all going to happen while the impeachment trial is going on throughout December.”

Lighthizer and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, were said to be traveling to Mexico on Tuesday. Lighthizer’s office didn’t respond to queries about the visit.

The Mexican Senate was briefed on the deal over the weekend. And on Monday, López Obrador, expressing optimism that an agreement was at hand, urged U.S. legislators to act swiftly before next year’s election season comes into full swing.

“Very respectfully, I say we don’t want this very important issue for the economies of three nations to be connected, to mix with, political-electoral matters,” he told reporters.

https://www.post-gazette.com/busines...s/201912100096

[anatta]

finally. Looks like Canada agrees as well.. NAFTA2 alone is supposed to create about 200k jobs.

Lighthizer is an amazing force to be able to deal all parties in..

[Jarod]

finally. Looks like Canada agrees as well.. NAFTA2 alone is supposed to create about 200k jobs.

Lighthizer is an amazing force to be able to deal all parties in..

I am glad they have an agreement on this update to an important trade deal. I hope the small improvements were worth the struggle.

[canceled.2021.2]

More kabuki theater from democrats.

It actually shows what a weak hand they have on impeachment.

But Trump should take the win

[Getin the ring]

democrats are trying to orchestrate,

it's clown like to watch, an ametuer can plot this charade play by play.
the vote first of the week, then Christmas vacation, will come back and pass prescription drug bill,

CNN will spin the senate trial while they try and spin the Durham / IG report as a diversion.

you nut**bags aren't going to like the final chapter though

[Cypress]

Cosmetic changes to a 20 year old trade agreement.

Trump had to abandon all of his most controversial demands, and accept the cosmetic changes Canada and Mexico were willing to give him. A win at any cost is where Trump is politically.

On the plus side, it would be good to put this behind us. It is never a good thing to have a dim witted, offensive, and tactless President degrading America's reputation with our two neighbors and important trading partners. I do not appreciate being made to feel like an enemy when I am in Canada, thanks to Trumpf.

[Getin the ring]

Cosmetic changes to a 20 year old trade agreement.

Trump had to abandon all of his most controversial demands, and accept the cosmetic changes Canada and Mexico were willing to give him. A win at any cost is where Trump is politically.

On the plus side, it would be good to put this behind us. It is never a good thing to have a dim witted, offensive, and tactless President degrading America's reputation with our two neighbors and important trading partners. I do not appreciate being made to feel like an enemy when I am in Canada, thanks to Trumpf.

did you fall our out of a dumbass tree and hit every limb on the way down?


you are the enemy, and your country is yellow belly do nothings, pay your GDP percentage to NATO and be good little sisters, and stfu

[cawacko]

From a progressive perspective NATO was deemed to have been done by Wall St Republicans and corporate-sponsored Dems to put downward pressure on labor costs and wages in the U.S.

Is there a consensus from a progressive perspective on this new NATO agreement on whether it is a good or bad thing?

[Truth Detector]

I am glad they have an agreement on this update to an important trade deal. I hope the small improvements were worth the struggle.

Liar.

[Bigdog]

Cosmetic changes to a 20 year old trade agreement.

Trump had to abandon all of his most controversial demands, and accept the cosmetic changes Canada and Mexico were willing to give him. A win at any cost is where Trump is politically. ... I do not appreciate being made to feel like an enemy when I am in Canada, thanks to Trumpf.

Good grief

A smart negotiater always begins with asking for the Moon.

I hope the rest of Canada isn't as stupid as you.

[Bigdog]

The USMCA, while not a major overhaul of NAFTA, i[B]ncludes notable changes to rules governing production of automobiles and parts and resolving disputes between governments and private investors.

Coyote Pelosi admits Trump has defeated her. That Trump knows what he is doing. Good for her.

Of course that doesn't excuse The Beast from fucking over the peasants for a year.

[Sailor]

From a progressive perspective NATO was deemed to have been done by Wall St Republicans and corporate-sponsored Dems to put downward pressure on labor costs and wages in the U.S.

Is there a consensus from a progressive perspective on this new NATO agreement on whether it is a good or bad thing?

Progressive perspective: Orange man bad..

[anatta]

Cosmetic changes to a 20 year old trade agreement.

Trump had to abandon all of his most controversial demands, and accept the cosmetic changes Canada and Mexico were willing to give him. A win at any cost is where Trump is politically.

On the plus side, it would be good to put this behind us. It is never a good thing to have a dim witted, offensive, and tactless President degrading America's reputation with our two neighbors and important trading partners. I do not appreciate being made to feel like an enemy when I am in Canada, thanks to Trumpf.

garbage rant.

Higher pay for auto workers

Starting in 2020, 30 percent of vehicle production must be done by workers earning an average production wage of at least $16 per hour.

That’s about three times the pay of the average Mexican autoworker. In 2023, the production percentage rises to 40 percent.
This could result in job production moving from Mexico to the U.S. as well as reducing outsourcing to Mexican auto plants

More auto parts from member nations

Automakers can qualify for zero tariffs if 75 percent of their vehicles’ components are manufactured in the U.S., Canada or Mexico, up from 62.5 percent under NAFTA.

Seventy percent of the steel and aluminum used in vehicles will have to come from the U.S., Canada or Mexico.
( shutting out Chinese supply chains)

Canada loosens dairy restrictions

Canada will ease restrictions on its dairy market and allow American farmers to export about $560 million worth of dairy products. That’s about 3.5 percent of Canada’s total $16 billion dairy industry.
Dispute process unchanged

Trade disputes will continue to be decided by a panel of representatives from all three nations.
Tariffs stay in place

U.S. tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum from Canada and Mexico remain in effect as negotiations continue.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ts/1487163002/

[anatta]

as well as IP protection and something about pharmaceuticals which I don t have time to look up.

estimated job growth =200l estimated / GDP growth = .5%
~~

also it shows China we are capable of ratification - another reason to sign phase 1

[archives]

The USMCA, while not a major overhaul of NAFTA, includes notable changes to rules governing production of automobiles and parts and resolving disputes between governments and private investors.

It also contains new or updated provisions on digital trade, financial services and other areas of commerce that were not major factors when NAFTA was ratified a quarter-century ago.

Tariffs in North America already were almost entirely removed by NAFTA, so the updated accord isn’t likely to have much impact on the pace of exports of U.S. farm goods to Mexico and Canada.
At the same time, farmers have been unsettled by the trade war with China, and completing the North American trade agreement, they said, would reduce some of the worries about the future.

“It just causes uncertainty with the threat of companies wanting to look for other sources,” said Michelle Jones, who with her family farms wheat and barley in central Montana, and has been closely following the trade discussions from 2,000 miles away. Mexico is the largest export market for U.S. barley and also a big buyer of wheat.

Even though Trump and the heads of Canada and Mexico formally signed the proposed USMCA more than a year ago, it was only in the last few months that Lighthizer began negotiating with a working group of House Democrats. He went back and forth in an effort to reach a compromise on changes that Pelosi and her colleagues demanded, even as partisan rancor intensified in Washington over impeachment proceedings.

More recently Lighthizer stepped up the talks with Mexico. And throughout last week he and Mexico’s undersecretary for North America, Jesús Seade, were ensconced in meetings in Washington.

To ensure compliance, some House Democrats and labor groups had pressed to allow U.S. inspectors at Mexican plants and for the ability to block goods at the border for noncompliance with rules on collective bargaining and other workers’ rights.

U.S. and Mexican officials also wrangled over what kinds of steel would be allowed to meet the USMCA’s new requirement that 70% of the metal for car production be sourced in North America.

Mexican authorities and business owners have balked at the idea of U.S. inspectors in Mexican plants, calling it an infringement on their national sovereignty — always a sensitive issue in relations with their bigger American neighbor.

Last spring Mexico passed new labor law reforms under its populist leftist president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in large part to align with the revised trade accord.

Still, in a nation with relatively few independent unions — labor syndicates have long been allied with political parties or the government, and are notorious for siding with management — there is clearly a fear that the presence of U.S. labor inspectors could empower Mexican workers to start truly independent unions, and push for higher wages and other labor rights.

Moreover, sources monitoring the talks said that companies in Mexico, including multinationals, had pushed back on language that would allow shipments to be stopped at the border as a penalty if they failed to comply.

It wasn’t clear that Mexico had agreed to all the terms, but it appeared enough to have met Democrats’ demands for meaningful enforcement of labor standards.

On Monday, the AFL-CIO and its president, Richard Trumka, gave a crucial vote of support for the deal.

While the agreement on labor enforcement marks a key breakthrough, Pelosi has said she wants to see any White House changes to the accord in writing.

House Democrats are expected to hold so-called mock markups on a draft bill with the text of the trade accord, a procedure that would allow lawmakers, business groups and other parties to react and possibly seek additional changes.

“Given the limited time remaining on the 2019 congressional calendar, and the possibility that the presidential election will deter consideration of the agreement in 2020, there is a significant chance that the USMCA will not be implemented in the near-term,” Brian Picone and Scott Lincicome, trade experts at the international law firm White & Case, wrote in a recent assessment of the outlook for USMCA.

Daniel Ujczo, a trade lawyer at the firm Dickinson Wright, said: “Everybody’s going to have to take a look and see if it’s go or no-go. What does the private sector, what do the stakeholders think of this deal that’s been made? Many trade deals have been made during markups, and many more have been sent back for more work.”

He added, “So we’re just entering a very important phase right now. And that process is all going to happen while the impeachment trial is going on throughout December.”

Lighthizer and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, were said to be traveling to Mexico on Tuesday. Lighthizer’s office didn’t respond to queries about the visit.

The Mexican Senate was briefed on the deal over the weekend. And on Monday, López Obrador, expressing optimism that an agreement was at hand, urged U.S. legislators to act swiftly before next year’s election season comes into full swing.

“Very respectfully, I say we don’t want this very important issue for the economies of three nations to be connected, to mix with, political-electoral matters,” he told reporters.

https://www.post-gazette.com/busines...s/201912100096

200K jobs according to who, or are you talking about jobs in Mexico?

NAFTA II is pretty much just an update of NAFTA I, most of the major changes were all ready in place in the negotiations for TPP, what was missing was teeth to enforce some of the regulations, which the House added, overall, it is not the momentous deal that Trump is now going to portray it as, "tremendous," "biggest in history." "greatest in a long time"