Thursday, November 14, 2019

Nancy Pelosi says a USMCA trade deal breakthrough could be ‘imminent’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated progress Thursday toward a final agreement on President Donald Trump’s North American trade deal replacement. House Democrats have negotiated with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as they push for better tools to enforce labor and environmental standards under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Speaking to reporters, the California Democrat said “we are moving positively” toward a deal. “I do believe that if we can get this to the place it needs to be, which is imminent, that this can be a template for future trade agreements. A good template,” Pelosi said. he White House aims to pass USMCA, its replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement, by the end of the year as the 2020 election looms. The House has a lot on its plate before then: it has to pass government funding to avoid a shutdown, and it will push forward with its impeachment probe into Trump. After Democrats and the administration strike a final deal, the White House will send ratifying legislation to Congress. Lawmakers would then have up to 90 days to vote on approval. NAFTA will stay in place until the countries ratify USMCA...MORE

  House Democrats have negotiated with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as they push for better tools to enforce labor and environmental standards

Bush II signed the original NAFTA. Congress then passed final version of NAFTA which was signed by Clinton. The final version included labor and environmental addenda pushed by the Dem's. 
According to the Congressional Research Service, the USMCA submitted by Trump contains the following environmental provisions:

·not to fail to effectively enforce its environmental laws through a sustained or recurring course of action or inaction to attract trade and investment;
·not to waive or derogate from such laws in a manner that weakens or reduces the protections afforded in those law to encourage trade or investment; and
·ensure that its environmental laws and policies provide for and encourage high levels of protection; and
·strive to improve its levels of environmental protection.
The agreement also would
·require parties to adopt and maintain statutes and regulations consistent with multilateral environmental agreements to which each is a party;
·recognize the sovereign right of each party to establish its own levels of domestic environmental protection, its own regulatory priorities, and to adopt or modify its priorities accordingly;
·acknowledge a partys right to exercise discretion with regard to enforcement resources;
·provide for the resolution of disputes; and
·provide for a mechanism on implementation of the agreement.
 
The proposed USMCA directly or implicitly addresses obligations under major Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). It also includes obligations and encouragements to protect the ozone layer, protect the marine environment from ship pollution, encourage conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and encourage sustainable fisheries management.

What are the "better tools" the Dem's seek to "enforce environmental standards"? Given Trump's goal of having this finalized by Christmas, how hard will he negotiate with the Dem's on these particular provisions? Unfortunately, enforcement of environmental laws, especially on "biodiversity" and "sustainability", have the potential to harm ag producers much more so than businesses in general.

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