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ADMINISTRATION EXPECTED TO NOTIFY CONGRESS SOON ON REDOING NAFTA
Mar. 6, 2017
Source: National Pork Producers Council news release
Now that Wilbur Ross has been confirmed as Commerce secretary - the Senate approved him Tuesday - the Trump administration may begin the process of reviewing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) among the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Ross this week told Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over trade, that the administration formally would notify Congress in mid-March that it will renegotiate the 23-year-old agreement.
Once the White House communicates its intent to the Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees, it must consult with Congress on the objectives of the trade talks during a 90-day period; 30 days prior to negotiations starting, the administration must make public a "detailed and comprehensive summary of the specific objectives."
The two trade committees also met recently with the administration's National Trade Council director, Peter Navarro.
One possible holdup to starting the 90-day clock is that President Trump's pick to head the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, has yet to be confirmed. NPPC has said that any redone NAFTA deal must not disrupt U.S. pork exports to the pork industry's No. 2 (Mexico) and No. 4 (Canada) markets.
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