House working group on Mexico-Canada trade deal to meet tonight
House Democrats looking to make changes to the new North American trade agreement are aiming to meet Wednesday night to craft their next steps forward, three lawmakers told POLITICO.
The meeting, if held, would be the first time all nine members are able to discuss compromises they will seek with the Trump administration over four main aspects of the new NAFTA. It comes as the Trump administration continues to press to get the deal approved this summer, even as Democrats warn there is a lot of work left to do.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tapped nine of her members to serve on a working group that will negotiate with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to press for changes to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement related to issues on drug pricing, labor provisions, environmental standards and enforcement.
“The question is how far can he go, and how far can we go,” said Rep. Richard Neal, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee who leads the working group.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, the chairman of the House Ways and Means’ trade panel and a member of the working group, told reporters that Democrats had exchanged letters with Lighthizer regarding their concerns but that he hoped the focus would be less on “throwing paper” back and forth and more on sitting down to “roll up our sleeves and talk about it.”
“If he’s willing to be flexible, I think we can move through these things,” the Oregon Democrat said.
Lighthizer will not be present at the working group meeting, but he has spent two days testifying on Capitol Hill to convince lawmakers that he is willing to make changes to address their concerns with the new agreement.
"My hope is, over the course of the next couple of weeks, we can make substantial progress," Lighthizer said during a Senate Finance hearing on Tuesday.
The goal for the Wednesday meeting, Neal said, is to "give some structure to the process" before getting Lighthizer in to meet with members "hopefully next week."
One challenge is going to be "to keep the issues narrow, so it doesn't become expansive and a negotiation without end," said Rep. Ron Kind, who sits on the Ways and Means Committee and is active in trade issues, but who is not a working group member.
"But right now I'm challenging Ambassador Lighthizer to come forward with some specific proposals to address concerns that he's hearing," the Wisconsin Democrat said. "It's a relatively narrow list of those concerns, so there are no surprises, really."
With only 18 legislative days left when both houses are scheduled to be in session, the window to get the agreement passed this year is narrowing. Asked whether it was still possible to hold a vote before Congress leaves for its long summer recess in August, Blumenauer responded simply: “I don’t know.”
“I know that our team wants to get into it and move it,” he said. “The speaker set up this little working group with an eye that it would help expedite things. Other members of the trade subcommittee are engaged and ready to go, and it will be when it is.”
Neal was more upbeat.
"I think it can get done faster than [August]," he told reporters, "if all the answers are forthcoming."
