PAF
01-24-2019, 02:36 PM
Is this the reason for the shutdown circus?
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With parts of the U.S. federal government shut down due to a budget impasse, including the Department of Commerce, progress on the U.S. International Trade Commission study has been halted, and further delays are possible. Only after all these documents have been submitted will the 116th Congress consider moving forward on approval of the USMCA.
Until then, negotiations continue, not between the three NAFTA countries, but among Washington’s policymakers. Some House Democrats have already signaled that they want to see firm commitments in the administration’s enforcement plan backing up the labor and environment provisions. This could be addressed in the administration’s enforcement plan, or in a side agreement.
If Congress does not get the changes it wants incorporated into the package the White House submits, U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi can take the administration’s draft implementing legislation and make changes prior to introducing the bill in the House (where the process of legislative approval must begin because the trade agreement makes changes to tariffs, and is considered a “money bill”). In her previous term as House Speaker, Pelosi delayed consideration of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement for nearly four years by refusing to allow implementing legislation to be introduced in the House until her terms were met.
The Trump administration will call on Congress to approve the USMCA quickly in the State of the Union address on January 29. The administration will likely argue that the U.S. position in ongoing trade talks with China and Europe would be undermined if USMCA is not approved as proof that the United States can complete trade deals.
Full memo here:
https://www.csis.org/analysis/unpacking-usmca-congressional-approval-2019
____
With parts of the U.S. federal government shut down due to a budget impasse, including the Department of Commerce, progress on the U.S. International Trade Commission study has been halted, and further delays are possible. Only after all these documents have been submitted will the 116th Congress consider moving forward on approval of the USMCA.
Until then, negotiations continue, not between the three NAFTA countries, but among Washington’s policymakers. Some House Democrats have already signaled that they want to see firm commitments in the administration’s enforcement plan backing up the labor and environment provisions. This could be addressed in the administration’s enforcement plan, or in a side agreement.
If Congress does not get the changes it wants incorporated into the package the White House submits, U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi can take the administration’s draft implementing legislation and make changes prior to introducing the bill in the House (where the process of legislative approval must begin because the trade agreement makes changes to tariffs, and is considered a “money bill”). In her previous term as House Speaker, Pelosi delayed consideration of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement for nearly four years by refusing to allow implementing legislation to be introduced in the House until her terms were met.
The Trump administration will call on Congress to approve the USMCA quickly in the State of the Union address on January 29. The administration will likely argue that the U.S. position in ongoing trade talks with China and Europe would be undermined if USMCA is not approved as proof that the United States can complete trade deals.
Full memo here:
https://www.csis.org/analysis/unpacking-usmca-congressional-approval-2019