Press Releases

Today, Ways & Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA), Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), and Committee Democrats sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert E. Lighthizer highlighting their concerns with the current environmental provisions in the replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The letter is part of the Committee’s ongoing engagement with the Administration to secure congressional support for a NAFTA replacement – it follows a letter that Chairman Neal sent to the Ambassador on April 9, 2019 to bring the Ambassador’s attention to Committee Democrats’ main concerns as they consider the NAFTA replacement; an April 11, 2019 letter to the Ambassador that highlights Committee Democrats’ concerns with the new agreement’s labor provisions, specifically; and a letter Committee Democrats sent to Ambassador Lighthizer on May 9, 2018 identifying the basic standards a renegotiated NAFTA must meet to receive necessary congressional support.

Full text of today’s letter can be found HERE and below:

The Honorable Robert E. Lighthizer

U.S. Trade Representative

600 17th Street, NW

Washington, D.C. 20508

Dear Ambassador Lighthizer:     

As our Committee prepares to consider the renegotiated trade agreement with Canada and Mexico (“the new Agreement”), we write to express our concerns regarding whether the new Agreement will lead to meaningful improvements in standards of environmental protection, particularly in Mexico.

More than 25 years ago, when Congress looked at taking up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), House Democrats had serious concerns that the elimination of duties, coupled with a lack of environmental protections in Mexico, could lead to the deterioration of competitiveness and opportunities for American workers, producers, and manufacturers. 

In response to those concerns, environmental cooperation provisions were negotiated in a side agreement, subject to a separate enforcement mechanism.  Not a single arbitral panel has ever been convened under these provisions.  Meanwhile, environmental protections in Mexico continue to lag significantly behind those in the United States and Canada.

As we evaluate the terms of the new Agreement, we question whether there is reason to believe that the new Agreement will lead to meaningful improvements for environmental standards in Mexico and transboundary collaboration between the two nations.  The lack of consistent environmental standards in North America promotes the exportation of pollution between nations.  For example, U.S. companies have been exporting and disposing of used lead batteries to Mexico to avoid U.S. restrictions on lead pollution.  This practice has led to an increased risk of lead poisoning in Mexico and U.S. border communities.  Further, increased human and industrial development in Mexico created by the original NAFTA, coupled with weak Mexican environmental standards, have led to toxic sewage filled with feces, industrial chemicals and other raw waste contaminating waterways like the New River, which flows from Mexico’s Mexicali Valley through Calexico, leaving neighboring towns subject to polluted air and water.

On May 9, 2018, Committee Democrats sent you a letter identifying the basic standards a renegotiated NAFTA needs to meet in order to garner sufficient Congressional support.  The new Agreement’s environment chapter commitments meet only some of the key elements we enumerated. 

We are particularly disappointed that the new Agreement’s environment chapter fails to incorporate the May 10 framework requiring parties to adopt, maintain, and implement all seven of the relevant multilateral environmental agreements.  We are also disappointed that the environment chapter lacks any apparent provisions directed at mitigating the effects of climate change.  Finally, we recall our advice to you that addressing transnational trade crime, such as smuggling, in a robust manner would bolster national security while also helping the American economy.  However, the new Agreement’s rules governing trade in illegally taken animals, animal products, plant, and plant products appear to be nowhere near equivalent to current U.S. law.

In addition to our disappointments and questions about the strength of the obligations incorporated in the new Agreement’s environment chapter, we have serious concerns about ensuring effective implementation and the enforceability of the environmental provisions.  For too long, environment-related trade enforcement needs have received less attention than other trade barrier cases.  We see that the dispute settlement mechanism applicable to the new Agreement’s environmental – and other – obligations, are designed to be easily frustrated.  This procedural design will, we fear, doom the environment commitments in the new Agreement to be as ineffective as the provisions in the existing NAFTA. The new Agreement should be breaking new ground and incorporating more flexible and versatile enforcement tools.  It should be obvious that enforcement in an improved, new NAFTA cannot rely on the broken elements of the existing NAFTA’s dispute settlement procedures.

As we take on the task of considering what will replace NAFTA, we are looking for substantive provisions and enforcement mechanisms that will finally support the sustainable management of North American resources and their trade, and limit the exacerbation of existing environmental problems. We look forward to engaging with you to address our concerns to ensure that the terms of NAFTA’s replacement will remedy the flaws of NAFTA that Democrats foresaw over 25 years ago.

Sincerely,

The Honorable Richard E. Neal   

Chairman                                         

The Honorable Earl Blumenauer

Chairman, Subcommittee on Trade

The Honorable John Lewis                                               

The Honorable Lloyd Doggett

The Honorable Mike Thompson                                      

The Honorable John B. Larson

The Honorable Ron Kind                                                 

The Honorable Bill Pascrell, Jr.

The Honorable Danny K. Davis                                       

The Honorable Linda T. Sánchez

The Honorable Brian Higgins                                                       

The Honorable Terri A. Sewell

The Honorable Suzan K. DelBene                                               

The Honorable Judy Chu

The Honorable Gwen Moore                                                        

The Honorable Daniel T. Kildee

The Honorable Brendan F. Boyle                                     

The Honorable Donald S. Beyer Jr.         

The Honorable Dwight Evans                                                      

The Honorable Bradley S. Schneider

The Honorable Thomas R. Suozzi                                               

The Honorable Jimmy Panetta

The Honorable Stephanie Murphy                                              

The Honorable Jimmy Gomez

The Honorable Steven Horsford      

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