STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, DEC. 10, 2019.....Led by U.S. Rep. Richard Neal of Springfield, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday celebrated a deal with the White House's trade representative over changes to the proposed United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, clearing the way for the North American trade compact that President Donald Trump has made a key part of his agenda.
Neal and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a press conference to announce that House Democrats had secured a deal with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to make changes to the deal Trump first proposed. Democrats said the latest iteration "achieved transformative changes to the new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that will bolster America's economy, support workers, protect the environment, and improve access to affordable prescription drugs."
The details of the newly-agreed-upon trade deal must still be worked out in legislation that will have to be ratified by lawmakers in all three countries, but Neal said Tuesday that Democrats were focused in their negotiations on one issue: "enforceability, enforceability, enforceability."
"The improvements to the USMCA that we have negotiated finally make the agreement enforceable by preventing a country from being able to block the formation of a dispute settlement panel. For too long, our trade agreements have failed American workers," the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee said. "In close partnership with our labor unions and with the robust support of the Ways and Means Committee Democrats, we negotiated improvements so that the USMCA will now have a specific, enhanced enforcement mechanism for labor obligations."
In addition to addressing enforcement, the Democrats said their deal includes "strong, high-standard rules" for environmental violations, eliminated provisions of the original proposal that "contribute to high prescription drug prices," and more.
Neal said the new agreement "creates a new highwater mark for U.S. trade agreements going forward" and the Ways and Means Committee declared it "will serve as a model for future U.S. trade agreements."
Pelosi, who was flanked by Neal about an hour earlier Tuesday morning to announce articles of impeachment against Trump, said that she was "so proud of the distance that we have come from where we started with the administration on this legislation." She added that the new agreement "is infinitely better than what was initially proposed by the administration."
Neal said his talks with Lighthizer got testy at times and that the road to Tuesday's announcement was not always a smooth one.
"These were intense, argumentative, angry negotiations. I mean this got really hot on a number of occasions. I think we set a world record for hanging up on each other, myself and the trade rep," Neal said. "But at the same time, we also knew that this was an opportunity that we couldn't let you get away from us."
Talks entered "a round of intense finishing conversations and negotiations" over the weekend, Neal said, and reached a head on Sunday while Neal was watching the New England Patriots game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
"On Sunday when Tom Brady was about to take it in, all of a sudden I looked at my phone and it said 'Pelosi' for caller ID," Neal said. "Long wisdom tells me: to hell with Brady, take the call."
Of Neal, Pelosi said Tuesday that "he was indeed a maestro to make all of this happen."
Trump and his White House also weighed in on the announced agreement.
"Yesterday, President Donald J. Trump spoke with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada to discuss the significant progress toward finalizing the historic United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement," White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere said in a statement. "The two leaders reaffirmed their strong support for the trade agreement, which will create jobs and economic growth in the United States, Canada, and Mexico."
In tweets Tuesday morning, the president said it looked like there would be strong support among Democrats for the renegotiated trade deal and touted its benefits for various sectors of the economy.
"America's great USMCA Trade Bill is looking good. It will be the best and most important trade deal ever made by the USA. Good for everybody - Farmers, Manufacturers, Energy, Unions - tremendous support. Importantly, we will finally end our Country’s worst Trade Deal, NAFTA!," the president tweeted.
Gov. Charlie Baker has been calling for ratification of the new deal. Massachusetts and Canada did $10.3 billion in bilateral trade in 2018, including the exportation of machinery, aircraft engines and medical equipment that supports over 200 Canadian-owned companies in Massachusetts and 20,000 direct jobs, Baker reminded Congressional leaders in a May letter.
"Completion of this fair, flexible trade agreement with our closest trading partners is vital, not only because free trade and strong relationships with neighboring allies are critical for peace and state economic prosperity, but it is critically important for our economy and Massachusetts jobs," Baker wrote.
Baker's office did not respond Tuesday to a News Service inquiry regarding the latest agreement on USMCA.
Last month, Neal told the New England Council that U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has indicated that the White House will be ready to work on a massive infrastructure bill that has been bandied about since the 2016 presidential election once Congress ratifies the new trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Since the 2016 presidential campaign, there has been talk that Trump might propose a $1 trillion-plus infrastructure plan though it has never materialized. Neal said he took Mnuchin at his word and thinks both sides could end up winners if they work together on an infrastructure bill.
"We all banked on a big infrastructure plan. Donald Trump campaigned on it. I think it's at an interesting intersection, literally -- he needs it and we want it," he said. "I think that what we are up against now is that there's this fundamental lack of trust between both sides. But that's not to debase the overall argument which is the country needs it very badly."
