Lawmakers, business groups and others urged the White House Friday to continue renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement despite fears that the window for reaching a deal is shrinking.
This week had been pegged by congressional leaders as the last opportunity the U.S. could submit a deal to Congress for approval this year.
“Republicans in Congress continue to urge the administration to bring back a modern agreement that is fully enforceable with binding dispute settlement procedures and which includes strong protections for American businesses and workers competing for customers in Canada and Mexico… I hope all countries continue working in good faith to get this done —whether that means a vote in Congress this year or next,” House Ways and Mean Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said Friday.
The Business Roundtable, a coalition of corporate CEOs, said that even if a deal could not be reached this year, the talks should continue. “Whether or not all three nations can come to an agreement in the coming days or weeks should not drive us away from the goal of preserving and strengthening NAFTA’s benefits to create more economic opportunities for U.S. businesses and workers,” it said.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer gave a pessimistic assessment of the state of the talks late Thursday, saying, “The NAFTA countries are nowhere near close to a deal.”
Mexico’s top negotiator, Kenneth Ramos, tweeted Friday that “MX has been consistent in the negotiation: we will not force a deal & sacrifice quality; and we want a modern #NAFTA that creates jobs in MX.” The tweet was an apparent reference to U.S. demands that Mexico increase wages for factory workers, a move that would reduce the country’s competitive advantage in labor costs.
Friday was widely seen as the last day that a deal could be submitted to Congress under Trade Promotion Authority, the law covering congressional approval of such deals. TPA says the president must give Congress and the International Trade Commission notice 90 calendar days prior to signing an agreement. It also must give the trade commission 105 days to produce an assessment of the deal. That would put the deadline at about May 18, according to most estimates, because that is 195 days from when the Congress is scheduled to conclude.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., last week said the deadline would be May 17 but said Thursday “there’s probably some wiggle room.”
The text of the TPA is somewhat ambiguous and open to interpretation. For example, it is not clear if the law would prevent a trade deal from going into effect before the ITC report is completed. While the White House has tried to produce a deal, it has never officially endorsed this week as its last chance to complete a deal this year.
