Liberal groups offered qualified praise for the Trump administration’s handling of the NAFTA renegotiations on Thursday, saying the White House is championing many good ideas during the talks.
Administration officials appeared to be listening to concerns the groups had raised regarding the 1993 deal and incorporating them into the ongoing discussions with Canada and Mexico, they said.
“Some great things have been put on the table,” said Celeste Drake, trade policy specialist with the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation, during a conference call with reporters. “It is really too early to be giving out kudos for a job well done … but it is great that we are having this conversation.”
The fifth round of NAFTA talks began Wednesday in Mexico City. The U.S. has surprised many by pushing for some radical changes to the deal such as adding an end date, allowing member countries to opt out of the investor-state dispute settlement system, allowing countries to favor domestic industries in government contracting, and strengthening the rules for when an item can be labeled as “made in America” or “made in the USA.”
Mexico and Canada have resisted the proposals, which would put their industries at a disadvantage. Business groups such as the Chamber of Commerce and pro-trade Republicans have expressed alarm over the direction of the talks. Several have raised the concern that the talks could fail, which may lead President Trump to follow through on his threats to pull the U.S. out of the deal. Earlier this month, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said his department was working on contingency plans should a pullout happen.
The situation has created odd-bedfellow alliances, with liberal groups optimistic that the administration could side with them and move the trade debate in their direction by rewriting the deal or eliminating it. That has forced business groups to look elsewhere for allies, notes Lori Wallach, trade policy specialist with Public Citizen. “The fifth round of talks will determine whether the business lobby has convinced Canada and Mexico to join them,” she said.
Liberal groups, especially unions, have long despised the 1993 deal, arguing it gave free rein to businesses to outsource to other countries. The deal has often put them at odds with Democratic allies. President Bill Clinton signed the deal, and former President Barack Obama backed it as well. Trump, by contrast, has often said the U.S. was out-negotiated and vowed to improve or scrap the deal.
During Thursday’s call, Drake said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer appeared to be taking the concerns her group has raised seriously and noted that the U.S. had even pressured Mexico to improve labor rights in its country. “First, we heard [Mexico] say that the U.S. should not be dictating wages to them,” she noted. Now, the country has taken a less defiant posture. Unions believe Mexico deliberately keeps wages low to attract business.
The groups were careful to say that they didn’t know where the administration would come down ultimately and pointed out that the administration continues to stand with business groups on several major domestic policy issues, such as overtime rates.
The talks have resulted in another major issue being discussed that has cheered liberal groups: right-to-work laws. Canada has used the talks to demand that the U.S. revoke its states’ ability to have laws that prohibit workers from being forced to join or otherwise support a union as a condition of unemployment. Unions hate the laws, which have been adopted in 27 states and are associated with membership losses and depleted treasuries. Canada, which does not allow the laws, has argued they give the U.S. an unfair advantage in attracting business.
The Trump administration is resisting the proposal, putting it at odds with unions on the issue.
“My understanding is that it is still on the table and that Canada has not backed down,” Drake said. “We think it raises the question of what it means to have a level playing field.”
Wallach said that if nothing else, the status quo on trade policy has been discarded. “The only thing we can say for certain is that it will not be the same-old, same-old on NAFTA,” she said.
