Ways and Means Republicans today held a meeting titled “Enforce USMCA to Make Trade Work for All Americans” to discuss how President Biden’s trade moratorium has worsened America’s supply chain and inflation crises.
Ways and Means Republicans emphasized that the U.S. needs to fully enforce USMCA and pursue new trade agreements that open markets to “sell American” to more customers, while unleashing American innovation.
The meeting featured Mark McHargue, President of the Nebraska Farm Bureau, and Stephen Comstock, Vice President of Corporate Policy at the American Petroleum Institute.
CLICK HERE to watch the full meeting.
READ: A. Smith: Advocating for American Farmers and Ranchers Requires Full Enforcement of USMCA
Key Takeaways:
Americans Deserve a Level Playing Field:
- Fixing NAFTA’s broken dispute settlement system was a key congressional priority in the bipartisan USMCA negotiations, as was updating the agreement to discipline government measures that distort conditions of competition which harm American firms and their workers.
- “We spent a lot of time to get this agreement right, so at a minimum we have to go back to what we agreed upon and maintain that those parameters are met,” Mark McHargue said. “We’ve got to make sure what we agreed on is enforced.”
Biden Needs to Stop Cherrypicking His Partisan Priorities and Enforce the Full Agreement:
- The Biden Administration’s enforcement efforts must go beyond its labor and environment priorities to ensure that the United States reaps USMCA’s full benefits.
- The Biden Administration must stand up for American companies against Mexico’s energy sector “reform agenda,” which unfairly advantages Mexico’s state-owned companies.
- “Having USMCA is a positive from our industry’s perspective. Part of that positive though, as you noted, is that parties live up to the terms and intent of the agreement,” Stephen Comstock said.
Secure Better Enforcement Tools Through More Ambitious Trade Negotiations:
- The United States has USMCA’s powerful enforcement tools thanks to an ambitious trade negotiating agenda.
- Bringing this focus to new trade agreements can help secure the enforcement tools we need to ensure a level playing field for our workers, farmers, and businesses in other key markets around the world.