Pelosi raises USMCA enforcement in Lighthizer meeting

The likely future House speaker indicated she is examining labor and environment provisions to determine whether they will be enforceable in practice.    Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., likely to assume the House speakership in January, on Thursday indicated that U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) labor and environmental provisions will undergo extensive scrutiny after implementing legislation is submitted to Congress, which could occur as early as this spring.
   Pelosi met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in her office on Thursday, and the two had a “constructive conversation,” but Pelosi expressed interest in the enforceability of certain language in USMCA.
   “As I reiterated to USTR Lighthizer, while there are positive things in this proposed trade agreement, it is just a list without real enforcement of the labor and environmental protections,” Pelosi said. “We are also still waiting for Mexico to pass its promised law on the wages and working conditions of Mexican workers competing with American workers.”
   USMCA would require 40 percent to 45 percent of auto content to be made by workers earning at least $16 an hour. NAFTA currently has no such requirement.
   The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has touted USMCA’s labor and environmental provisions as enforceable, noting that they are all in the core of the agreement, as opposed to NAFTA.
   “Working with our Chairman Richard Neal through the auspices of the Ways and Means Committee, we will be hosting meetings to brief members on the provisions in the proposal and to hear from various stakeholders as members make their judgments,” Pelosi said.
   Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., will take over as House Ways and Means Committee chairman when Democrats take control of the House in January.