Here is a factoid that may explode out of NAFTA 2.0 discussion.
In there somewhere is an agreement to give big pharma an extra 10 years of copyright on drugs made from living cells (biologics)
that is an extra 10 years of no competition from generics for some of the most expensive drugs on and coming onto the market.
All this stuff about higher wages and safer jobs in auto factories and the absolute right to sell cheese in Canada is not going to incite that much friction from congress.
But from a man who promises a vanity wall and lower drug prices—and now a sell out to big pharma? Oh to be a spider on the wall for that((!!))
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It would be a shame to see this deal be disapproved by Congress.
Our negotiators reportedly forced through a provision that prevents a Vancouver store from having a rack displaying only Canadian wines.
A Trumpian victory!
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Trump is in no hurry to submit this to Congress. I guess he's too busy having "executive time."
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Can everyone just send me a hundred bucks? It's a matter of national security!
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@Peter Wolf how about Trump bucks, will that help?
@jim Trump bucks can be redeemed for 4 cents on the dollar and a non-disclosure agreement.
Trump was correct in that NAFTA needed updating. The "new NAFTA" seemed reluctantly agreed to by Mexico & Canada with Comngress in no hurry to approve it.
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Tariffs were *not* "imposed on Canada and Mexico." Even here in the NYT we see subtle misinformation promulgated. Tariffs are a tax on the importation of a product. Tariffs are a tax imposed on American businesses. They impose no direct cash penalty on the originating nation.
Yes, I can get awfully pedantic about this but it matters. Much of the public and probably almost all red hat wearing Trump supporters fails to realize the trade war is a huge tax increase on the very companies that or administration claims to support. Though steel and aluminum grab the headlines there are also tariffs on countless raw materials used in American manufacturing.
Bottom line: Tariffs are taxes paid by Americans through increasing prices and declining future manufacturing employment. The impact lags the initial expense of tariffs but be assured it is already baked in to our future economy.
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I wouldn't sign the deal either. USMCA is basically the same thing as Nafta. Whether you love Nafta or you hate Nafta, why give Trump a political victory for changing the logo? USMCA is another failed attempt at trade policy. The deal should easily fail in Congress as well. Besides, "us-mik-ah" is harder to say.
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it is amazing how stupid and ignorant Prime Minister Jutin Trudeau is on economic matters. He negotiated and signed this pact. Trudeau is a Putin lacking once removed. The Mexican President, America is too racist care what he signed.
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put his name on it in gilded letters. Let him tell his ignorant base that it replaces something that Obama did. Put anything in it that you want. But stop the pretense that he is a serious man with viable policy ideas. About anything.
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@runaway Notice how everything that Trump is involved in is always chaotic and it looks like that's the way he likes it so he causes it. Maybe he thinks he can hide in the chaos and people won't see him for what he does-- lie, cheat, steal.
He must have had a ball dealing with 3 failed casinos in Atlantic City. This time he hit the jackpot. He's got the whole world as his sandbox. By the time he's out of office we're all going to need some serious R & R.
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Come on guys, its 2019. You can't have a trade deal that benefits the American people. Only one that benefits the American state and the American corporation. All other considerations are irrelevant.
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@Emily : You know, I don't understand this. Trade is a tremendously complex issue, and one of the complexities embedded is in terms of what it means to "benefit the American people". As an example, what would you say is better for the "American people" : average prices on a few million cars bought per year are lower by a few 100s or maybe even 1000s of $$, or that a few 1000s, or maybe even 10,000 more US autoworkers have jobs to produce those cars without those lower prices?
The classical answer of course is - it depends. Free-er trade enabling lower prices are a net benefit to the "American people", but it does need to be complemented with labor mobility - the ability (and opportunity ) for "displaced" workers to find new jobs.
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You do understand. So do others, but won't admit it
Also, when good jobs leave, the whole city deteriorates.
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Reality Check no one forces our government to use tax money to buy imports .Our government knows those imports use to be made in USA an people lost there jobs that paid taxs like socail security . Futile to blame other countrys for what we done to are own people . Why we are own worse enemy in world an also responsible for creating more waste in world oceans. Cant blame are leaders we all share responsibilty .
Our split Congress in a nutshell: “Democrats say the deal does not go far enough to protect workers and the environment, while Republicans say it goes too far in restricting trade, particularly in the auto sector.”
This where moderation is required and missing in action. Each side must move toward the middle, less business regulation and less worker/environmental protections for agreement. Here is a window. Will it happen? I would not bet on it.
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The USMCA is a modest improvement over NAFTA, mostly for Mexico and Canada.
Mexico benefits from the increase in North American content as the low cost supplier of automotive parts in NA.
And Canada most benefits from the $16 wage content rule, because manufacturing assembly labor is 25% to 30% cheaper there than in the US. Oh yeah, and steel and aluminum is cheaper in Canada thanks to Tariff Man.
Trump's base is divided on NAFTA and presumably USMCA as well. Those who hated NAFTA will hate USMCA just as much, once they understand it. And his business base that saw NAFTA as a way to compete with Asia and Europe with an integrated NA supply chain will also feel about the same about USMCA.
Unless a lot of Democrats suddenly fall in love with NAFTA/USMCA, Congressional approval seems very uncertain.
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Trump the great economist. What joke. The man is the epitome of incompetence.
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Big Pharma loves NAFTA 2.0
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Not a deal at all for American and Canadian auto workers. Hard to live of $16 an hour.
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The $16 an hour requirement is for Mexico and Canadian workers only. This is going to cause a stir in Mexico since that hourly rate is way more than what auto workers are now making. I have no idea how Mexico could agree to that.
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No funding for government, no DACA deal, no USMCA. It's that simple.
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Yeah, let's call it what it is: NAFTA.
"The new deal, which was agreed to in September, primarily updates Nafta but contains some new provisions, including requiring higher wages at automakers and greater ability to sell dairy products in Canada."
For all of Trump's bloviating, the fact is that it is 99.9% NAFTA. It adjusts auto wages in Mexico, and milk quotas in Canada. Trying to sell NAFTA as a horrible deal, and then proposing it again with a different name, only legitimizes the worst president in the modern era.
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Surprisingly, I find myself in agreement with Sen. Toomey: tariffs must go.
But I am not sure that the president will not go down that road of ending NAFTA. Trump has displayed a remarkable ignorance of economics and a willingness to ignore competent advice.
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An an article in a competing newspaper indicates that the revised NAFTA has provisions that benefit pharmaceutical industries over consumer needs. I would like to hear more about that from the NYT.
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Expecting the Trump administration to have a winning strategy on anything is to engage in wishful thinking.
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Blow up the old deal, get almost nothing new, re-brand it, claim victory...
Who falls for these transparent scams?
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@McGloin
Those buying MAGA apparel and Fox News
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Senator Toomey and other pro-business republicans it's now going to be your time in the "Lets Make a Deal" Trump barrel. Just like shutting down the government to get his wall with democrats Trump is willing to kill NAFTA to get his way on his trade deal with you republicans. Your own party leader you support is willing to hold the business community hostage and cause economic chaos to make you bend his way. What a deal maker. Have fun with him!
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Those who voted for Donald Trump the self-proclaimed "successful businessman" will soon rue the day they voted for Donald Trump the unsuccessful trade negotiator.
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@RLW He will, indeed, go down as the worst "dealmaker" in history. You don't negotiate by holding your opponent up against a wall of incompetence and ignorance, you allow both sides to declare victory by bending a bit so everybody wins. With Trump, everyone must be lose except himself. Not a recipe for reelection either.
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@RLW They will not rue the day. They will never admit it.
"Mr. Toomey said he remained deeply concerned that the administration had not rolled back the steel and aluminum tariffs that it had imposed on Canada and Mexico after the trilateral trade agreement was reached last year."
It has not gone unnoticed in Canada that the Trump administration has cozied up to the enemy and loosened sanctions on a Russian Oligarch who is the world's largest trader in aluminum while throwing Canadian aluminum under the bus and labelling Canada as a threat to US national security. We have noticed and will not soon forget.
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@SteveR
I think our president's proclivity to embrace autocrats and those who seem to have an inscrutable influence on him show us an underlying disregard for fairness and the rule of law.
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@SteveR
Agree -- since 2017, I have gone as a tourist to the US once (wedding invitation). Since his glorious insults, I watch everything I purchase and avoid US products... when I use to look for them as a NAFTA partner.
Love them oranges from Spain...
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It would be nice if the NYT actually asked Democrats what they think about the removal of ISDS provisions in the revised NAFTA agreement.
Preventing companies from suing governments in private courts in order to roll back labor and environmental protections is a big step in the right direction.
This is one of the brighter points of the new agreement and I'm curious to know if Democrats support this change.
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@Eric - Sure, ask them. But, it's Trump's deal so why don't reporters ask Trump what HE thinks about removal of ISDS, while at the same time he's rolling back environmental protections in the US? It's way past time to worry about what Trump is doing in his own country.
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The steel and aluminium tariffs, based on Canada being an enemy and national security threat, will continue to sour our relations and trust. These tariff also cost the US consumer big time. Sad.
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@Christopher Please don't paint us all with a broad brush. Many of us are shocked at how quickly Trump shredded our institutions and safeguards. It's almost to much to endure.
No normal person would ever behave like Trump because they'd be afraid of the blow back. But Trump is fearless and seems to love to wallow in the midst of the confusion he causes.
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That's seven beautiful words. If he can't count and won't read, what is he doing there.
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That's seven beautiful words. If he can't count or read what's he doing there.
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The biggest difference between NAFTA and USMCA is the change of name. If ever there was a more fluffed up agreement it would have to be Trump's nuclear disarmament with North Korea.
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Trump can’t collaborate, so he presents a deal that satisfies himself but few others. But the motivation for his replacement of NAFTA was the appearance of reforming it rather than the purpose of making it work better. He talked against it and he’s just trying to project the appearance of replacing it. Any intelligent and thoughtful person would have already negotiated a deal that his Republican colleagues would have supported wholeheartedly and enough Democrats to assure it’s passage. It’s what competent politicians do when they govern competently.
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Another one of Trump's vanity deals--virtual reality with no beneficial content other than to Trump's self-image as the person who knows more than anyone else about everything.
I suspect that he will threaten another government shutdown, declare a national emergency, or use it as another way to divide the nation if he doesn't get his way on this.
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" President Trump lauded his new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico in his State of the Union address." That's interesting since he probably hasn't even read the agreement nor does he understand what any of it means.
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@Jacquie I wonder if that sentiment resonates with all the GM employees abandoned in the US and Canada.
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Trump has demonstrated the level of business acumen that delivered him to multiple bankruptcies, and is showing no sign of having learned from those failures.
To those who voted for him; do you still like his business 'plan'?
If unchecked there is no outcome from his dealings that don't leave a scar on 99% of us.
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“I imagine you’d have a huge sell-off in equities and have very, very disrupted financial markets,” Mr. Toomey said. “I sure hope the president does not go down that road.”
Trump is a spontaneous disrupter. He acts without thinking, and is more likely to tear something up than have a plan to fix or improve it.
Trump will go down that road.
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Pelosi will never bring it to vote, and she can thank McConnell for paving the way and setting the precedent for obstruction asa legitimate legislative "process". And I do not blame but support Pelosi who understands that you fight fire with fire.
I think the press and GO have ascribed far too much intelligence and deference to McConnell. He is an old man with no interest in anything but power. He is amoral and incurious. What are his legislative achievements other than the odious tax cut? I think he is hurt and holding on, and hopefully the 2020 election will finish him off.
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And this was one of the President's key accomplishments during the last two years according to my Republican friends.
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@Rob C Yet, I doubt that even one of them can tell you specifically how the "USMCA" is (allegedly) better than NAFTA.
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Barry! Not true.
Fox and Friends has developed a list of Talking Points that his base knows by heart, and as usual Fox viewers, believe.
And belief is all that matters in the new GOP.
Truth is a casualty of the culture wars
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No mention in this article of how the deal will block generic drugs from coming in the country, allowing prescription drug prices to continue to soar. The Dems will make a big issue of that gift to the pharma industry -- and rightly so.
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Trump is very good at breaking treaties and clearly incompetent at replacing them, apparently because the latter requires work.
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Whether or not one favors the revised version of NAFTA, if Trump can just pull us out of the agreement in a peeve that his new version is not approved this serves to illustrate, yet again, the excess power handed over by Congress to the Imperial Presidency, where the monarch, oh excuse me, president, can unilaterally withdraw us from agreements authorized by the legislative branch. Similarly, as if we need more arguments, why should the president be able to just mouth the words "national security" with zero actual proof, that Mexican and Canadian steel and aluminum threaten the actual safety of the nation, and thereby on his own impose tariffs on those nations? Because Congress continues to let the presidency get away with it.
Ridiculous.
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“The president has two options on this trade deal: the honey or the hammer,” Now, let me guess which he will choose? Then again, Trump has shown himself, over and over, to be all bark and no bite, all hat and no cattle. My bet is on he won't compromise but he won't try to cancel NAFTA. It will stay in place while he can tell his constituents, "I tried, they just won't cooperate." One more colloquialism: All of nothing is nothing. Will that be enough to get him re-elected?
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At this point I don't think anyone in Canada supports the revised version of NAFTA and I doubt Congressional calls for further concessions are going to bring about anything but an end to the trade agreement, particularly as Canada gears up for a federal election. Washington needs to end the tariffs.
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Congress should pass legislation making it more difficult for a president to unilaterally impose tariffs. The Constitution confers this responsibility solely on Congress. Misusing emergency tariff authority Congress offered to presidents, Trump has imposed tariffs for no good reason on many of our allies, with bad effect on trade and our economy.
If they are smart, Congress should tie passage on the bill taking back tariff imposition authority with the new NAFTA treaty. If Trump vetoes the tariff law, his new version of NAFTA dies, and Trump gets nothing. This is the only way Congress can deal with a bully.
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None of this is the least bit surprising. There is always a risk that agreements are re-opened in the interval between signing and ratification, simply because many more people and their interests get to have another kick at the can before such agreements pass into law. The distinctive risk in the case of NAFTA is that once again Donald Trump could try to invoke mafia-style strong-arm tactics to bully Congress, Mexico and Canada to ratify whatever he thinks he can claim as a victory. This kind of behavior, which he invoked to get the existing stage of agreement, could backfire badly. If that happens, either continental trade arrangements remain as they are (NAFTA continues) or there is a reversion to trading conditions, perhaps as they existed before the Canada-US Auto Pact of the 1960s. Perhaps to head-off the latter menace, veto-proof legislation is needed to prevent Trump from unilaterally smashing existing, legal arrangements. That would put a floor on the depths of depravity to which the ratification procedure could be otherwise subjected.
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It's not worth bothering to work and accumulate money any more because criminal negligence of the climate crisis by the federal government makes this a death march economy, and renders our lives meaningless. The better people have been trying for decades just to have fracking come along, was unforgivably approved and dumped loads of methane into the atmosphere.
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It's all short-term gain for long-term pain with the money guys laughing all the way to the bank. Unfortunately that greed is the weakness of democracy because the first priority of most politicians is to get re-elected and the money guys support the politicians that keep the money guys happy.
I wonder if the people who sacrifice the environment for money worry about what kind of world their children and grandchildren will be living in. What will
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And , this is the awesome trade deal that trump says will pay for the wall ?
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What is unfortunate about the new NAFTA is that none of the three governments are educating the public on the benefits of trade. When the original NAFTA was approved, all three governments implemented campaigns to educate the public on the benefits trade in general and NAFTA specifically would have on consumers and the economy. Nowadays zero.
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@Trade Specialist - "Benefits of trade" is not the same as "benefits of trade agreements". Trade Agreements like NAFTA are written by, and benefit, Big Business. The damage NAFTA did to workers is well-documented.
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@Trade Specialist
I'm not sure why you're surprised. To expect anything well-organized out of the Trump administration is just a fantasy. These are people who lose children by the hundreds. Do you actually expect them to be able to marshall their resources regarding a complex topic in any coherent, factual manner?
As for Mexico and Canada ... why should they waste their time trying to build public support for something that Trump might repudiate tomorrow? Those governments watch our politics carefully and they know that Trump is an unreliable negotiating partner. Why do more than the minimum that is necessary to humor him?
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@Miss Ann Thorpe
The benefits of trade (including NAFTA) our number the downsides, by a lot. Including workers who’s jobs are displaced. It keeps an economy vibrant. Governments should help citizens identify economic trends, make it simple for people to pursue business opportunities and assist in cheap credit. Provide re-education programs. Why keep jobs that pay low, that are repetitive with low growth and low knowledge? Leave that for developing economies and you focus on activities with higher margins. Cleaner, safer, more knowledge driven jobs. This is how America became the greatest economy in the world.
4
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, say they want the White House to remove steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico because Mr. Trump had reached a deal with the two countries.
Could we get an explanation why Canada is a security threat, while Trump is willing to lift the tariffs on Russian owned and produced aluminium.
As a Canadian, the only new milk products I see on the shelves, are Coca Cola's Fairlife brand. Is that what this was about, a huge corporate give away?
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"Could we get an explanation why Canada is a security threat ..."
Well, according to Trump, you guys did burn the White House 200+ years ago. You can expect a bill any day now.
13
Send it to Britain, we were British then
5
It will be a "miracle" if Congress approves this new treaty.
7
@John
If they could tie it in to a tax increase on the one percent, Medicare for all and a decrease in the military budget it might be worth it.
9
Based on today's Wall Street Journal report on soaring farm bankruptcies, any business transaction Trump advocates should be thoroughly examined by congress, independent economists, and the media.
In states from N Dakota to Arkansas, farm bankruptcies swelled 96%. In reaction to Trump's "trade wars that are easy to win", China stopped buying American soy and moved purchasing to Brazil.
Based on his past performance, we know Trump is good at one thing.
Bankruptcy.
Before his "gut feel" cripples America any further, oversight & scrutiny needs to redouble. Always look at whose being "greased" in any deal Trump sells.
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@Barney K Yet seemingly not a peep from those Trump supporters loosing their family farms?!
If one was prone to conspiracy theories you could imagine this was all part of a grand big money GOP plan to have farms snapped up by huge agro-conglomerates . . . America's landscape is changing daily, we won't be recognizable in 2 more years.
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@Barney K
As Republicans were so fond of saying during the Obama administration, "elections have consequences."
11
@Lee - I'm not a conspiracy theorist-- but I think this was exactly the plan all along. And none of that "organic" nonsense either when Big Farm-a (get it?) takes over...
3
As usual, trump talks about NAFTA lite, his supporters claim it is one of the fulfilled campaign promises, and it isn't even close. Fake news as usual.When and if it fails due Republicans in Congress objecting, trump supporters will still say trump fulfilled his campaign promises.
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One of the main tenants both republicans and Democrats object to are the requirements of higher wages for auto workers.
By design this keeps auto jobs from moving to Mexico as the wage must be at least 16 dollars an hour.
Who are these Congressman representing? Big business or their constituents?
The Democrats look like they just want to object to anything that Trump wants. Interestingly that's what they complained about when Obama was in office.
This updated agreement is good for the USA. Do your job and sign it.
3
@Ari they are doing their job ari, thats why they aren't signing it. As mentioned, many Democrats agree with Trump on trade so its not a Democrat thing- also, your reasoning - higher wages for auto workers in the US means less profits and more expensive cars - thats exactly why jobs should move to Mexico.
8
@Ari But it's unlikely to do that. The agreement specifies WHERE the products are to be produced ( locations with top tier wage levels) but don't actually require the manufacturers to hire human beings. I've walked through a half dozen "lights out facilities " in the Midwest in the past year. These are fully automated facilities that produce thousands of plastic and metal automotive parts every hour with no humans. MES software applications and robotics handle all of the material handling and production. There is usually a maintenance staff of 2-3 people at a facility that would have employed hundreds 10 years ago. The cost savings are astronomical. In addition to wages, robots and software don't need break-rooms, bathrooms or expensive HVAC systems. This will simply accelerate a trend that is already underway in the automotive industry.
7
This is when Congress has to step up to the plate and research this agreement to make sure it's right for America and not just right for Trump.
Trump only cares about one thing, he wants his name associated with this new agreement even if it is a loss for the country.
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"that the administration lacks a winning strategy ..."
Pretty much true across the board.
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