This article fails to state one important item: Investor State Dispute Settlements. If it is not remediated we still will not have rights to protect us.
Remember the Canadian pipeline transgressing over tribal lands which was theirs? We caved. Big Biz won. Because we have no rights.
There are no real judges...just two sets of attorneys. In one case the attorneys act as the judges. In the next case the attorneys who acted as judges represent the litigants. Etc.
Individuals seeking justice have no recourse. For example, if dad takes foreign medication which is tainted, which kills him because of it, too bad!
The game is rigged and should be fixed!!!
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I want to know why I’m not hearing about one of the reasons to oppose this treaty...the protection the pharmaceuticals and their inane high prices. If that isn’t fixed...neither party should support it.
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Why is the House supporting anything this administration does? The GOP obstructed President Obama for 8 years, financially harmed our country and citizens and paid no price other than losing the House. They control the Senate, the presidency and the Judiciary. Why is the House helping this administration? The election is only a few months away so we shouldn't rush this and we should let the people decide in the next election.
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If the deal was so great for workers and the environment, wouldn't those few in Congress who really care about what the American people think release some of these details? Between Centrist Democrats scrambling for crumbs from the Trump administration, and the Republicans who seem to relish in causing pain to working families, Mexicans, and the natural environment, this deal sounds like another corporate American fantasy.
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Apparently by Trump putting Clintons NAFTA out of business, has put the VP's Indianapolis based 4,000 employee Celadon Trucking under. The guys at the top lied about inflated stock prices when it came to the day of reckoning. Going bye-bye for a long time. Taylor's trucking company suffered these consequences for leaving.
I am chagrined that folks below have thrown overboard rationality in blaming POTUS over this vote delay.
If the pact was so bad - how come Mexico and Canada have already ratified it.
If I were a future trading partner of America - I would be leery of our POTUS or Republicans or for that matter Democrats.
Any trade deal from now on would be held hostage by a party opposite controlling a chamber that needs to approve this treaty.
And we have not heard from the Senate Democrats yet.
If nothing else, approval if USMCA and impeachment articles at the same time perfectly illustrates a split personality of DC today in the political class.
Giving it with one hand while slapping it at the same time.
@Neil Canada has not ratified - waiting for the uncertainties in the US to achieve final clarification.
@Neil
The deal has been signed but not ratified by the Canadian Parliament. It will not be presented for ratification before Congessional approval.
Why would any country initiate any trade deals with the US when Trump will Tweet and upend everything any time he pleases.
It is a waste of their time.
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@Jacquie I certainly understand the sentiment but our economies are so very integrated that there would be disastrous disruption unless some orderly process is defined for going forward. I think having our economies so integrated is good for ensuring ongoing efforts to treat each other as friends and to behave reasonably. Trump justifying illegal tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum because we are a security threat to the United States is not helpful. If we did pull apart somewhat I think it could be very much to Canada's long term benefit as we are way too much of a branch plant economy with precious little strategic planning for ourselves, and way too little research. On the other hand I believe our welfare really very much depends on being good friends with the US - but not patsies. You guys interfere in other countries in quite an unrestrained and unenlightened manner when you see those countries as somehow not a friend. The problem for Canadians is that we are to a great extent brainwashed by American ideas ( government is bad, taxes are bad) and much of the population is as clueless as you guys.
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Where's the part of how all electricity used in Mexican and Canadian factories has to be generated using coal burning plants built and operated in Appalachia?
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@Joe Miksis over half of Canada's electricity (60%) is generated from hydro sources. 9% of electricity in Canada is from coal. Canada is a NET EXPORTER of electricity (all exports to U.S.A.)
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@N McDougall
Don't confuse people with facts and evidence.
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Unless there is a provision for equal pay and benefits it's not a fair deal. NAFTA exports jobs. Full stop. I'd go so far as to say tax any product to bring it's costs up to par with the US, I don't buy stuff, too much carbon, costs too much. Bring the jobs back or it's pitchfork time.
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The original NAFTA put American citizens in direct competition with semi-slave labor in Mexico. No business is going to employ Americans and meet wage demands, health and safety regs., environmental regs., etc. in the USA when they can produce the same product at a fraction of the cost with more-or-less slaves in Mexico.
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What's the rush? Let's have 2-3 months for Americans to review the new details. We can vote in February.
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I am waiting for Trump to decide that if he is Impeached, he will shut down the government by vetoing all bills sent to his desk. He just has to make sure he doesn't talk on the phone about it. Darn those pesky transcripts anyway.
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With the next election AND an impeachment trial underway, Sane Congresspeople should be giving this deal as much consideration as the vile GOP gave Garland.
Learn from North Carolina: NEVER make a deal with a Republican.
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The Democratic Party is once again helping sell American workers down the river, in favor of multinational corporations. All so trump can have another talking point. How about this: no trade deal until wall funding is zeroed out. At least Democrats would be standing for something.
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I want to know what Bernie Sanders thinks of this. He’s probably the only politician we can trust on this issue.
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@EJS Bernie Sanders is better than the rest, that doesn't make him good for workers, just better than the typical neo. He wants to import workers.
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This article tells us nothing about the substance of any purported agreement. Does it, for instance, include the same Investor State Dispute Resolution mechanism which permits a corporation to sue a government for damages in a private kangaroo arbitration court. The US should not give up any of its sovereign right to pass whatever laws it chooses without having to obtain the agreement of multinational corporations. I’m very concerned about another sell out of American working people.
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Once again the American worker is being sold out and the rich corporations get richer. The Democratic Party is complicit in a bad deal.
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Here are the main points to look out for here.
1-Trump was, is and always we be a free trader otherwise would have brought back his and Ivanka's slave labor factories from India before they went belly up.
2-Trump was ready to go with a deal that was for all practical purposes the same deal that was in place.
3-While the democrats claim they made improvements, they enabled the original republicans who signed the original deal that sent countless blue collar factor jobs to Mexico.
4-To ratify it make sure the agreement actually gives America an equal footing and if not don't sign it.
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What good is a trade pact with the US if Trump violates it whenever he wants?
Why bother to negotiate pacts? Because we expect the other parties to keep them, even though we don't feel bound by them?
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