Transcripts For CSPAN Senate Finance Hearing On United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement 20240714

The committee will come to order. We welcome our witnesses. Were here to have testimony from a range of industries to tell us about the importance of the United Statesmexicocanada agreement, and we soon are referring that to always as usmca. We look forward to hearing from our witnesses about the significance of the agreement to american businesses, both small and large, the workers, the farmers that we all represent. Thank you for being here. Mexico and canada are our countrys most important trading partners. According to the International Trade commission for the year 2017, more than onethird of americas merchandise exports went to mexico and canada. In that year mexico and canada imported more than half a trillion dollars of American Goods plus more than 91 billion of american services. For iowa our six and sixtenths billion of exports to canada supported 130,000 jobs. The foundation of our strong trading relationship with mexico and canada have been, thus far, nafta. The United States, mexico and canada negotiated that agreement between 1990 and 93. At the time, it was a new standard of trade agreements. It helped mexico reform into a market economy, it enabled american businesses, workers, farmerses and ranchers to sell our goods and services in mexico and canada without tariffs and without many nontariff barriers that for decades had burdened our ability to compete in those two countries. Of course, the u. S. Economy and the global trade have changed dramatically since 1993 and 25 years of experience with nafta have provided valuable lessons. The time for modernizing nafta has come, and thats what usmca is all about. It sets a new standard for our trade agreements. For example, once enacted, the agreement will make it will be the first u. S. Free trade agreement with robust chapters dedicated to digital trade, anticorruption, good regulatory practices and small and mediumsized enterprises. Usmca will set a new benchmark in many other areas as well such as free transfer of data across borders, strong rules on stateowned enterprises, north american content requirements for preferential treatment, food safety and biotechnology standards, customs and trade facilitation, intellectual Property Rights protection and enforcement, labor and environment. Usmca labor chapter squarely addresses workers rights in mexico, and it already has resulted in the overhaul of mexicos labor laws. The labor and Environmental Standards in the agreement are the most rigorous in any u. S. Trade deal. And unlike with nafta, theyre in the core of the agreement and are fully enforceable. Usmca also squarely addresses longstanding u. S. Concerns in the Canadian Market such as canadian policies on wheat grading, retail sale of wine, dairy supply management and the distribution of u. S. Television programming. These are stamm improvements substantial improvements from nafta. They represent benefits and new opportunities for iowans and were americans across the board. According to the International Trade commission, the agreement will increase real gdp by 68 billion and 176,000 new american jobs. Now, thats not to say that every usmca provision is perfect. Trade agreements always need to balance the preferences of different industries, region, elected leaders and stakeholders. Some of my democratic colleagues in the house of representatives have centered their attention on usmca outcomes that they view imperfect. Surely nobody could consider nafta to be better than usmca, and nobody let me emphasize nobody should dismiss the importance of a half trillion dollar market for u. S. Agriculture products. I came away from a meeting that i had with Speaker Pelosi that was very positive as i heard her words and express her attitude the towards usmca. People want to push and push, but i think we must be patient as she works through this, and i have confidence she wants to get to yes. I have supported besides, i have also supported the onto going work of the speakers members with ambassador lighthizer to clarify outstanding concerns and identify bipartisan solutions. I have an open mind to workable ideas and stand ready to consider possible improvements in the agreement. For example, i support strong enforcement of all of the chapters through a system that works reliably and has credibility with our trading partners. Im also pleased that important usmca provisions on Prescription Drugs will not require any changes to u. S. Law. And i would be open to proposals that would confirm that point. At the same time, every day that passes is another day that benefits usmca go unrealized. Trying to reopen the whole agreement could risk unraveling the deal altogether, which would benefit nobody. I, therefore, urge the house of representatives and ambassador lighthizer to focus on their specific concerns and to propose solutions in short order so that we can pass usmca. Doing so will provide muchneeded certainty to American Workers, businesses, farmers, ranchers families and will enhance the credibility of our ambitious global training. Senator wydenen. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman, and i want to make clear at the outset that i look forward very much to working closely we you on all of these issues. Colleagues, the finance Committee Meets this morning to discuss what needs to happen for nafta 2. 0 to deliver better results for American Workers, our farmers, our ranchers and particularly American Families from sea to shining sea. I do want to begin my remarks by giving a big oregon shoutout to one of our witnesses, ms. Paula barnett, not only because she is an oregonian, but as a entrepreneur, ms. Barnett is a perfect example of why the original nafta needs a bold upgrade. Ms. Barnett is an artisan from brownsville, oregon. Ive been in that area often for town halling meetings, and leadership countys population is about 1800 people. Brownsville. She founded a jewelry business that produces in oregon and sells online, primarily on etsy, to customers in the United States and around the world. She also sources some of what dose into her jewelry from goes into her jewelry from abroad. Getting that kind of business off the ground would have been a lot harder just a few short decades ago when nafta was created. According to etsy, the total economic output of its sellers based in oregon is more than 125 million, and that is just one of the many Online Platforms that businesses use to grow. Oregons many Success Stories also include rough ware based in bend, a producer of gear for very good dogs all over the United States and in other countries. Updating nafta means addressing the challenges facing these businesses that operate online. It also means confronting the other areas where older trade agreements continue to this day to fall short. Fighting to protect labor rights and the interests of working families, preventing a race to the bottom when it comes to the environment, making sure there is vigorous enforcement of our trade agreements so that other countries can cannot treat those deals as empty documents that give them time and opportunity to rip off american jobs. And i want to particularly emphasize this trade enforcement issue. My colleague, senator cantwell and i, come from the pacific northwest. One out of five jobs in the state of oregon revolves around International Trade. The trade jobs pay better than the nontrade jobs in many cases because there is a valueadded component. And in my home state, one of the first things anybody asks about when the trade topic is brought up is, hey, ron, what are you guys in washington, d. C. Doing to better enforce the trade laws that are on the books . They understand you need to upgrade these policies, but they want to make clear that the new day has to involve tough, enforceable trade laws that have real teeth in them. They are consulting with the old congress about what comes next. As i wrap up, i want to make some points on this old process. There is work to be done on key issues. They mentioned enforcement. The new nafta carries over the enforcement system of the old nafta. Its too easy on trade sheets. Its not good enough for American Workers, particularly on labor rights senator brown and i have proposed some additional tools to address specific challenges in mexico, and i hope there will be progress on that front. Additionally, one of the bigger challenges we confront is identified the hundreds of thousands of sham labor contracts in mexico that that is exploited workers and harmed workers here. Mexico must remain on track to get those contracts renegotiated on behalf of of the workers interest. During the overall the original nafta remains in place. Workers, farmers, ranchers and businesses should not have to fear that Economic Uncertainty will cost them their livelihoods. Its a problem with the president acts out and makes impulsive threats regarding our trade relationships. American farmers, American Workers have been hurt by some of these president ial impulses, and more will get hurt if the president continues to offer threats and chaos, and possibly this ends up causing the congress to accept a bad deal on nafta. Passing a trade deal that would allow this president to unilaterally change rules and in effect jerk around the entire industries would be a dangerous mistake that promotes uncertainty. When i talked to businesses, more than anything, they constantly, back to certainty and predictability. And you dont get trade done right with all of this uncertainty, and based on that ice concerns about of the administration wants nafta to point out to be intimate. Thats what well be talking about today i know my colleagues to deepen both sides of the aisle about trade and id like to close this comment will begin come ms. Barnett were so glad youre here. I think you are the face of much of what the trade challenges all about. We welcome you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you. Ms. Barnett, how can i do better than he did in introducing you . I guess silly thing i would add from my notes is that you singlehandedly run your business selling jewelry to buyers all across the world so youre definitely concerned about trade agreements and trade generally. So thank you for being here. Next i would like to welcome matt blunt, president of the American Automotive policy council. Governor blunt was a 50 for the governor of missouri, serving history as chief executive 20052009. Hes been president of the American Automotive policy council since 2011. Inability represents the common policy interests of americas largest automotive manufacturers, ford, general motors, fiat, chrysler. So we welcome you, governor blunt. Then we had mr. James collins, chief executive, he leads the only major side dedicate agriculture just work began 35 years ago when he joined dupont 1984. He worked his way up the ladder. Mr. Collins became chief operating officer for the Agriculture Division of dow dupont before becoming ceo over recently standalone company, Corteva Agriscience. Congratulations on your new position. Then we welcome derek leathers, president and ceo warner enterprises, found in 1956. Warner moved his headquarters from Council Bluffs iowa to omaha which is still close across the river. Now youre still about i win i hope. I dont agree with the move, but person making that mistake. Warner is now one of americas largest transportation and Logistics Companies with a network of over 7800 trucks, an extensive expense in shipping and distributing goods to canada and mexico. Prior to joining warner enterprises, mr. Leathers is one of the first foreign members of mexicos trucking association, and was based out of mexico city for several years. Thank you. Now i have the pleasure of introducing i iowas former governor and former secretary of agriculture for u. S. Department of agriculture, tom vilsack is now president and chief executive officer of the u. S. Dairy export council. He was elected i was 40th governor in 98, served eight years there and eight years as secretary of agriculture. Now is is the leader of u. S. Dairy export council. He represents trade interest of more than 100 dairy industry, their exporters and affiliated entity members, so thank you for coming, mr. Secretary. Finally, welcome michael wessel, president of the wessel group and staff chair of, to the Labor Advisory Council for trade negotiations and trade policy. As the staff chair mr. Wessel helps direct Committee Responsibility for advising and consulting secretary of labor and the u. S. Trade representative regarding policies on labor and trade negotiations. He worked as a congressional aide for over 20 years and also a commissioner on the u. S. China economic and security review commission. So thank you, mr. Wessel. Now we will start with ms. Barnett and we will go that same way across the table as i introduced you. Good morning. My name is Paula Barnett and im a jeweler living in brownsville oregon with my nineyearold daughter carla. Thank you, chairman grassley, Ranking Member wyden, and members of the committee for inviting me to speak to you today about my Creative Business. I am a self taught fine shooter i spent six youre studying art and architecture history. While i loved dearly the Career Options were extremely limited. After failing to find a job in my field i conducted Market Research and decide to become a jeweler. Ive always been a maker and once i decided on this path i dove headfirst into teaching myself how to make jewelry with simple tools and equipment. I launched my business in 2013 on an Online Market place for handmade goods and craft supplies. Within a couple of months id already earned enough to cover my initial investment in tools and supplies, a rare feat for a new entrepreneur. Today im a fulltime goldsmith. I make custom engagement and wedding bands using recycled fine metals and ethically sourced stills. Ive come a long way from making brass rings shaped like mountains to setting diamonds in solid gold. My work is 100 made by me, with my own hands in my home studio and oregon. Im also a single mother and my business allows me to be there for my daughter. I am home when she gets off the school bus, sick days are a nonissue and my flexible schedule allows me to raise my child as i see fit. I am very blessed in this regard. Carla also benefits from watching me exert myself creatively and succeed in business. Excuse me. Im proud of my success but my story is not unique. Globally, etsy host over 2. 2 million traded entrepreneurs like me, and fully 87 87 of those sellers are women. Nearly all of them are businesses of one working out of their homes. We are microbusinesses, yet we have Significant Impact on our communities and the broader economy. In 2018 of the u. S. Etsy sums contributed 5. 30 7 billion to use, and created over 1. 52 million jobs. Our impact is especially big in Rural Communities like mine. For example, 27 of of etsy sellers live in Rural Communities, compared to just 17 of Business Owners nationwide. Individually, we may be small but together we are supporting our families and revitalizing communities across the nation. Perhaps at the present find it this is a small us by testifying before congress about a multilateral trade agreement, but but i am exported in my own right. About 20 of my sales are international. Like many etsy sellers i i made my goods available to International Buyers on the moment i opened my online shop. Today, 52 of all etsy sellers export the goods. Unfortunately, the u. S. Is the only one of etsy core market with majority of etsy sellers do not ship the goods to other countries. For example, 90 of canadian etsy sellers ship internationally. Trade agreements like the usmca has huge potential to the u. S. Microexporters like me grow our international businesses. In particular, de minimis customs thresholds, digital trade provisions and Educational Resources targeted to Small Businesses could all help increase in exports. Youre doing great, ms. Barnett. Thanks. First, my business depends on my package is being delivered quickly and with minimal hassle to buy overseas customers. Unfortunately, many of my customers must pay extra taxes and fees on the pieces i export, often unexpectedly get ive had many packages get stuck in customs, and to the dismay of my customers they must travel in person to pay the required fees before collecting the item. In some cases the cost can nearly the double the price of the item. This is a hindrance to sharing my work with the world. A few customers have even refused packages due to extra taxes and duties. In those cases i find myself having to refund the item including the shipping cost or risk entering a a negative review which can make or break a business like mine. De minimis customs exemptions are the single greatest tool policymakers can use to help small and micro businesses export their goods. They enable my packages to move quickly across the border, which is especially important as customers expect faster shipping times. With plenty of customers in canada and mexico i encourage to see the usmca would increase them in his thresholds for both of these trading partners. The u. S. De minimis threshold is also important to my business. In addition to explain my goods also import many of my supplies. I import my opals from a supplier in mexico. Some of these stones are of a high value do not reach the 800 u. S. Minutes threshold that congress established in 2015. I occasionally process returns and am relieved i do not need to pay additional fees on these shipments. Given the importance of de minimis customs thresholds to my business im hopeful congress will ensure the final agreement establishes certainty, not uncertainty, around this important issue. Second, digital trade provisions let me to use the internet and on line platforms like etsy to reach buyers around the world. Thank you, senator wyden for your early and ongoing leadership in this area. I cant overemphasize how important the internet is to my business and my family. My entire business is online. Without the internet i and countless others like me would be without work. A job is one thing but doing something youre passionate about is Something Else entirely. And that is what my jewelry business is to me. I am thankful i can focus on growing my Creative Business and dont need to think about the Digital Infrastructure that underpins the global ecommerce, whether it be Data Processing and transfer, Electronic Payments across multiple currencies, or the intermediary Liability Protections that enable etsy to operate in open, and curated marketplace. I am honored to share my story with all of you today. My plans for the future include growing my wholesale account, expanding the complexity and craftsmanship of my work, opening a retail studio space where i i can meet with clients and continue to make jewelry alongside my daughter, who is my biggest fan. As an internet based on when im hopeful to use can set the standard for sensible ecommerce policy through agreements like the usmca, and that these provisions can ultimately will be enforced to ensure the internet continues to act as a launching pad for millions of microbusiness exporters like me. Thank you so much for your time and the opportunity to speak before you today. We recognize a senator. I will be brief, mr. Chairman. And of course, we so appreciate the input from ms. Barnett. I also want to note, i think colleagues note send it assume who is not here right now has also been a leader in this bipartisan effort to promote additional opportunities for digital trade senator sinema wonder think ms. Barnett and note there is been bipartisan support across the aisle on that. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, ms. Barnett. Now governor blunt. Thank you, chairman grassley and Ranking Member wyden, members of the committee. I thank you for this opportunity to testify today on usmca. Truly 21st century trade agreement with our canadian and mexican trading partners. My name is matt blunt and im the president of aapc, the American Automotive policy council which represents a common Public Policy interest of our u. S. Automakers, fca u. S. , Ford Motor Company and general motors. Our emphasis is on International Trade and Economic Policy interest of our Member Companies. American automakers are competent once approved by congress usmca will not only help bring muchneeded predictability and help maintain the competitiveness of u. S. Auto industry, it will also serve as a blueprint for future u. S. Trade agreements, allowing our automakers to thrive in an increasingly competitive global auto market. When negotiations with canada and mexico began, aapc and its Member Companies have four priorities. First, maintain dutyfree access to the canadian and mexican auto markets. Two of the largest vehicle markets in the world. Second, include provisions to address currency manipulation by our trading partners. Third, ensure the continued acceptance of u. S. Auto Safety Standards in the region, and finally include balanced and workable rules of origin for vehicles and parts in north america. We firmly believe the negotiators achieve all of these priorities. First, usmca will preserve critical dutyfree access to two of the largest vehicle markets in the world, markets were a companies have been incredibly successful. In canada are brands now account for 40 of the 2 million vehicles sold and in mexico american nameplates have secured 27 of the 1. 4 million vehicle market, and market that is expected to grow steadily in the future. We commend negotiators for creating stronger but workable rules of origin for vehicles and parts in the region. The new rules raise naff this current minimum contact levels which are always the highest of any trade agreement in the world from 62. 5 , the 75 . The. The new rules will require automakers to make changes to their sourcing strategies but we believe these changes are feasible and will benefit the u. S. Auto industry and the millions of jobs they directly and indirectly support to at home. In fact, our three Member Companies have already announced 6 6 billion in the u. S. Investment which were driven in part by the new usmca rule of fortune requirements. We agree with the administration that these new rules of origin will strong incentivize more investment in the United States and more u. S. Investment means more american jobs. Ambassador lighthizer successfully crafted and negotiated two groundbreaking provisions that will lock in the acceptance of vehicles built the u. S. Safety standards as well as provisions to prevent currency manipulation. These are the strongest such provisions ever included in the u. S. Free trade agreement and like the administration would leave these provisions should be included in every future u. S. Free trade agreement. In short, American Automakers have given our full support to usmca because it will not only help the u. S. Auto industry remain globally competitive, it brings certainty and stability which in turn will encourage automakers, foreign and domestic, to invest and expand here in the United States. The president s decision last month to lift the peter slen steel and aluminum for mexico and canada was a Crucial Development for our automakers as well as many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. We also understand the conversation between ambassador lighthizer and members of the House Working Group on use in ca have been constructive. Given this momentum we hope members of this committee joined our colleagues in the house and senate can work to help resolve any remaining issues so that congress can approve usmca and a peaceful potential for use automakers and our nations economy as a whole to be realized. Again want to thank you for holding this important hearing for the applicants test and i look for to answer your questions. Thank you, governor blunt. Now one minute or for personal privilege senator from delaware. Thanks so much mr. Chairman. Before jim collins speaks of what is it personally welcome, grew up in delaware wife lived in a place which is my favorite part of delaware, just across the line in pennsylvania. But jim is a terrific leader for dupont many years and agriculture business now heads up Corteva Agriscience which grew out of the dupont dow merger now split into three countries one of which is Corteva Agriscience headquartered in wilmington at experiment station. Were delighted to see that happen and in addition to being one of the business we also Great Community leader and an eagle scout answers on a lot of boards and our state university, library at the university of delaware. He has been a scout leader for many years of his life. His wife and he has raised 12 children. It seems like 12 children. But all our kids, there now adults but children we would be proud of. Welcome today and thanks for testify. Thanks, mr. Chairman. Mr. Collins, proceed. Thank you. Thank you, chairman grassley and Ranking Member wyden and senator carper. I appreciate that introduction, two proud boys. Only two. And thank you members of the finance committee for the opportunity to be here today to testify. As you for my name is jim collins and im the ceo of Corteva Agriscience as as disinterested this is a new ad copy that spun off from the tao dupont merger. Its a company with more than 300 years of combined agriculture crit and honored to share the views of our more than 20,000 United States employees with the over 400,000 u. S. Customers, American Farmers and ranchers. Im here to address the critical need to pass the United States mexico cant agreement. Usmca features elements critical to american agriculture, things like Market Access, protection of innovation and modernize regulatory mechanisms to ensure our future competitiveness. Millions of american jobs depend on trade canada and mexico by far the largest export markets for the United States. International trade supports 39 million jobs across america with 12 million from trade with mexico and canada. The u. S. International trade Commission Analysis indicates usmca would increase u. S. Afghan food exports by to 2 billion. Farmers have floors under the enhanced access to canada and mexican markets. Nafta boosted u. S. Ag exports to north america by over 350 over the life of that agreement. Canada and mexico by nearly 45 yoga and dollars of act products annually from the United States, making them our first and second largest export markets. In all of her conversation with farmers they have stressed that trade is one of their key elements of success. Let me tell you about two, firstgeneration minnesota farmers andrew and heidi polk. They saw an opportunity to begin farming with the demand that was coming from exports to china. However, because of the recent trade challenged between the u. S. And china, these Young Farmers were forced to search for new markets. The north American Market was crucial to them last year sold the entire crop to buyers in canada. Passing the usmca will ensure that new farmers like them can continue to survive. Lets turn to the accepted. As chairman grassley stated so well in the junior income adequate we need to secure strong agreement so that we can restore a level Playing Field, unquote. With a level Playing Field, corteva can help u. S. Agriculture become even stronger. At 12 the the food and act industry is responsible for the largest segment of u. S. Manufacturing jobs so its clear when farmers win, our nation prospers and we all win. United states is a largest market for seed in the world and it is also the largest seed exporter. Icicle and canada, the dresses to largest largest seed export markets represent 600 million in annual seed exports. Thats onethird of the total. Seed varieties can cross as many as Six International borders before that bag of seed becomes commercialized and sold to a farmer. Usmca offers the worldclass regulatory disciplines that prevent rejected or delayed seed shipments that can cause market disruptions and dissatisfied customers. We can count that in the millions of dollars. Our seat and Crop Protection product, the lecture Property Rights protection is also. Rights protection is also. Rights. Protection is also crucial. We are particularly excited about the biotech protections also afforded us under usmca. Now lastly, agriculture is future is dependent upon passage of usmca. Corteva as the only u. S. Based seed Crop Protection and digital ag company has a substantial presence in iowa, indiana and in delaware, with offices come site and employees all across the country. But we are a Global Company as well and about half of our sales are outside of the United States. So we need trade agreements to solve problems before they become disputes. Through nafta, north america became a more economically integrated, and our governments to establish broad deep among our officials and these frank discussion between officials were worth their weight in gold, and the usmca will build upon that foundation. So we must not only passed usmca to protect the north American Market, but we need to replicate this exercise Going Forward in our other pending global trade negotiations. The studies are clear. The International Trade commission ustr and private industry have found that usmca creates jobs, expands markets for family farmers like the pokes and Agribusiness Companies like corteva. Thank you again chairman for the opportunity to address the committee, discussed the importance of swiftly passing usmca and i would be pleased to answer any of your questions later. Thank you, mr. Collins. Now, mr. Leathers . Chairman grassley, Ranking Member wyden and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on behalf of the American Trucking associations and discussed imports of usmca at my name is derek leathers and im the president and ceo of warner enterprises. Warner has grown from a one truck operation in 1956 to the Global Logistics company employing 13,000 associates and professional drivers worldwide. In the United States werent has 8000 trucks operated by professional Driver Safety moving America Forward every day. Warner tended to grow our business at home and internationally. Our Significant Growth in mexico is due to the initial success of north american trade. Werner is one of the top five u. S. Truck load carriers operating in canada with 8600 crossborder movements in 2018. As we celebrate at werner our 20th anniversary in mexico, we are the largest u. S. Truckload carrier providing Ground Transportation service to and from mexico. Last year we cross 154,000 shipments. Mr. Chairman, you would be interested to know that were under halls protein, beef, pork and poultry from several locations across iowa to mexico on a daily basis. And Ranking Member wyden are largest crossborder customer in terms of volume and revenue is based in oregon. I spent over 25 years years in trucking which included starting the mexico business while living in mexico city. I saw firsthand how nafta has transfer north american to the most competitive trading trading bloc in the world. Nearly 76 of all crossborder trade tonnage is transported by truck. When trucks are not the primary mode of transportation the other modes still depend on trucks for final delivery. Every day there are 33,000 truck entries across our northern northern and southern border. To put this in perspective, 12. 2 million truck crossings moved approximately 772 billion of goods across our meeting and mexican borders last year alone. Beyond the numbers, the best way to truly grasp the scope across border trucking since it first and at her ports of entry. I invite you to visit our terminal in laredo, texas, where youd see the next volume of trucks transported freight constantly moving across the u. S. Mexico border and why weve expanded that location twice in the last three years we are so inclined, visit us on the interior at any one of our offices and we would be happy to host you. Technological advances have redefined the trade if in front to such a degree nafta is outdated. The usmca is timely and necessary update. 25 you to go trade did not need to accommodate sameday shipping or two day delivery that is now expected by consumers. Crossborder trade by truck has increased 191 . The north american supply chains have grown increasingly interconnected. So much so there are countless examples of products being transported around north america crossing our northern and southern border multiple times prior to reaching the consumer. Congress must elevate our north american trade policies into the 21st century. The usmca represents more than a trade agreement. The flow of commerce between our nations has become a major cornerstone of our economy. Supporting the livelihood of roughly 90,000 people employed in his just Trucking Industry including nearly 60,000 euros Truck Drivers to move freight to and from our borders. U. S. Truck income is paid u. S. Based drivers more than 3. 25 billion in wages plus Health Insurance and retirement plans in 2018. Simply put, trade is crucial for the bluecollar workers and the Trucking Industry. Failing to pass usmca would have negative impact on Truck Drivers along with the customers we serve across north america. Manufacturers can farmers, retailers and consumers. The American Trucking associations were under the Board Alliance and Trucking Industry urges congress to ask with and support ratification of usmca. We stand ready to help drive this agreement across the finish line. Thank you again for the opportunity to testify today and im happy to answer your questions. Secretary vilsack, thank you for coming. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Senator wyden and members of the committee i want to express my appreciation for the opportunity to appear today. This is a meeting and hearing that is important to 110 members of the u. S. Dairy export council as was the 39,000 family farm operations that provide safe and nutritious and sustain produced Dairy Products for us in the u. S. And around the world. I have a simple message for the committee. Exports matter to American Food and agriculture industry. 30 of production and 20 of all agricultural income is directly related to exports. Help support 141 of activity, nearly 1 million paying jobs. Exports to mexico and canada matter to the dairy industry and the farms across the United States. 28 of all food and agriculture exports go to mexico and canada. Between 40 45 billion, five times what it was when nafta was first enacted. For many commodities canada and mexico represent their top markets ratification to the. Markets ratification to the usmca matters to Dairy Farmers as well as to egg producers, poultry producers, wheat produces and those involved with providing alcoholic beverages as well as other commodities. As indicated the idc projected over 2 billion of additional income for american agriculture in the Food Industry which will help support thousands of jobs. For dairy there are multiple benefits from not the least of which is an increase of agriculture exports to canada and mexico amounting to over 300 million annually. It preserves or dutyfree access to our number one market mexico. It increases Market Access to our Canadian Market that even limit for far too long by increasing our trade quotas in cheese, giving milk powder, butter and other Dairy Products. It removes and reforms he trade distorting canadian pricing policies, repealing class vi and seven patent dollars and opposing more trade friendly discipline on the canadian supply management system. It establishes strong sanitary provisions that would protect food safety, helping to avoid unscientific barriers to exports. It improves the safeguards regarding u. S. Companies right to use common food names, helping to avoid further abuse of geographical indications that will cost and could cost the u. S. Dairy industry billions of dollars of lost revenue. The ratification of the usmca matters to all of the food and agriculture industry at it will build momentum for progress hopefully another trade discussions, especially in japan and possibly china. Ratification of the usmca impacts food and agriculture industry and really matters to the entire country. Why do i say that . According to done and associates the u. S. Food and agriculture industry represents directly or indirectly 43 million employed americans. Which is 28 of our entire employment workforce. It impacts directly 20 of American Economy. Whatever helps food and agriculture industry helps the country. Mr. Chairman, i appreciate the opportunity. Today and i look for to responding to questions and assisting this committee in its important work, work that is vital to the future of american agriculture and Food Industry as well as to the country. I know from following publications that youve been doing this for quite a few months, and we thank you for your leadership in the area. Mr. Russell mr. Chairman, it is an honor to appear before you today. My name is michael and i am here as the staff chair of the labor Advisor Committee for trade negotiations and trade policy. Organized labor wants nafta fixed. We have worked in a constructive effort to find solutions and not just lodge complaints. We remain optimistic about the ability to resolve the issues. But we will not hesitate to oppose an agreement that fails to improve nafta and the current trade template in meaningful and effective ways by adopting the many recommendations that we have made. Much work remains and the current usmca is not enough. The negative impact of the existing nafta has had a corrosive impact on the u. S. Manufacturing, public and private Sector Workers have all been hurt. Steelworkers and indiana have seen their jobs go to mexico. Workers and nabisco, philadelphia, and chicago so their jobs shipped to mexico where workers are paid . 97 an hour. Autoworkers in ohio are seeing their jobs relocated to mexico. Aerospace workers throughout the country have seen tens of thousands of jobs moved to mexico by workers at utc and chula vista. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. It is time to reverse the trend. Our engagement and our continued engagement results not only from the depths of our concerns but results to attribute ambassador lighthizer and his team. Let me make a number of quick points, but i do not to minimize the importance of issues i do not raise. We are not moving the goalpost but we will not accept charges that if we did not raise an issue in every conversation, that issue must not be of concern. There is a long list. First of the critical need of improvement to the enforcement provisions which were essentially absent from the current agreement. Panel blocking must be fixed. We support necessary provisions in the agreement. Enforcement is only as good as the standards and laws that are subject to enforcement. We have repeatedly made suggestions for improving the labor standards included in the labor chapter. Much work remains. While the annex provided a new framework for mexico, the interpretation of some of the language is still in question and we have not seen how mexico will implement and monitor new laws and provide funding. Specific text must be fixed. Mexicos labor reforms are being challenged including by the employee friendly labor federation. At last count, there were more than 400 appeals against mexicos labor reform. There is no infrastructure to allow workers to achieve internationally recognized workers rights. 30s to be accelerated and needs to be there accelerated and frontloaded implementation rather than waiting for the four year clock. We need to ensure the process for bringing complaints is dramatically improved. We need to address the access to medicines issues. Virtually every labor contract deals with Cost Increases fueled by huge Prescription Drug Cost Increases. Fueling drug price increases in mexico and canada via usmcas provisions is not only unjust, it will have a direct impact on our ability to sell products there. The rules of origins need to be strengthened and clarified. The loophole that allows foreign steel and aluminum to be counted as domestic originating materials must be closed. Organized labor is committed to working to improve the existing agreement. Labor leaders have publicly supported the negotiations and as it relates to the text, indicates that it improves upon the existing framework. It must be strengthened and coupled with implementing and monitoring conditions. Even if we achieve all goals, we will not oversell the final product to our members. They have lived with the devastating impact of existing trade policies. They are rightly skeptical and their leaders will not mislead them. We need meaningful and effective based on the recommendations we have made and meaningfully address the outsourcing across industries. We have waited for the flaws in nafta to be addressed, and our experience will drive our decision. Not partisan politics. We look forward to working with the committee in congress in the coming days. Thank you. Now, we will have five minute round of questioning. Mr. Collins, this agreement for the first time dealt specifically with biotechnology o support americans innovations in agriculture and continued cooperation with canada and mexico. It improves transparency and functioning of approval process for biotech crops and provides for cooperation and information exchange. On the agricultural biotechnological trade matters including gene editing. How will these biotechnology provisions of the agreement benefit the ability to innovate and bring benefits to our farmers and consumers . Thank you, chairman. You are exactly right, that usmca creates a process for u. S. , mexico, and canadian regulators to share information back and forth across themselves and to better collaborate on the regulation of biotech crops including the new breeding techniques you mentioned. This process has the potential to alleviate trade barriers that can sometimes result from different processes and different procedures that evolve in different countries. Including the time frames that are associated with the approval of biotech products. A more coordinated, Regulatory Framework by which we can approach these markets in lockstep as opposed to sequentially has really helped. It is a benefit for the u. S. , the innovation, but also for all farmers in north america. We think these provisions will provide an important precedent for future trade discussions with other partners as well. The new agreement will expand Market Access for u. S. Dairy products in canada and eliminate unfair Sales Program which allowed Dairy Products to undercut american competitors in canada and third world markets. Additionally, mexico agreed to restrict Market Access for u. S. Cheeses labeled with certain common names. How will american Dairy Farmers of benefit and take advantage of the new Market Access as a part of usmca . I am also interested on whether or not it will expand market share in canada. In 2017, america suffered a loss of seven dairy farms a day. Times were tough out in rural america. This agreement would provide an opportunity for dairy farms to stay in business. Why . Because it would expand access to Canadian Market that has been closed. It will increase our market share opportunities in butter skim milk powder. In repealing class six and seven, it gives us an opportunity to have a powder market, a global powder market that provides appropriate pricing. The canadian Pricing System basically undercut the world price was created some havoc in the powder market globally and impacting negatively are producers as well as those around the world. The implementation of this provision will be important. We will have to make sure this is not a replacement that has the same effects, but we are hopeful. There also export controls. There are potential penalties that canadian exporters will have to pay if they export more than the limits set forth in the agreement. It is an increase in market share, increase for u. S. Dairy to do business in canada, and it preserves our number one market of mexico. My last question. You referenced in a bloomberg piece in your testimony about how a single capacitor had crossed the border numerous times before was finally in a final product. It paints a clear picture that in 25 years since nafta was enacted, technological advances have redefined the trade environment. Could you shed more light on how technology has revolutionized our trade practices has lasted only five years and why it is imperative that we revolutionized the north american trade agreement . Yes. I was on the ground in mexico city before nafta was enacted the first time, living and working and running a mexican trucking company. Over these last 25 years and we think about usmca and i think about the opportunity in front of us, it literally contemplates and for the first time, addresses issues that did not exist then. We did not have internet to speak of and there was no ecommerce. There was no digitalization of our customs process. The average trucking crossborder time was 24 hours if we were lucky. Today we wake up in a world 25 years later where we are doing advanced customs clearing, clearance of goods. We are digitally interacting with our shippers and receivers, we are working with the unified customs process with officials collaborating at the border in a more seamless and efficient crossing process. Having the usmca ratified to help address from our perspective the importance of all of those digital ecommerce and Digital Information and the ability for these records and their security to be better recognized and have better treatment in the agreement is of critical importance. The future is only going to continue to go in that direction and our business is increasingly one that is moving more digitally by the day. Sen. White i think your story is incredibly inspiring how you as a single mom have been able to come up with this attractive, exciting new business where in effect you are able to look to Global Markets as a result of Digital Innovation and i just have a quick question for you. You asked the minimus to rates in american law this committee is not going to go along with uncertainty in u. S. Law and nafta. Why dont you tell us what the value of acrosstheboard certainty would mean for you and your business. Ms. Barnett thank you for the question. I export my goods as well as import supplies and i would like to not have to worry about my items crossing the border. I want my items to get to my customers as fast as possible because they expect that. Some of my items are lowerpriced and some of them are quite higherpriced, and it would be valuable to me to have my customers not have to pay so much extra taxes. In terms of the u. S. The minimus, because i do import a lot of my stones, i would like to not have to worry about having to pay extra taxes because it does cut into my bottom line, and sense i am a full proprietor, every dollar counts. Certainty is important. I just make jewelry, i dont want to have to worry about uncertain provisions and laws. On this committee, there is strong support for that kind of certainty you are talking about. You have really laid the case out well. I want to turn to you on this whole question of a labor issue and enforcement, and i am not sure that everybody knows, but you and i have been talking about these issues for years and i appreciate your good work. It seems the administration has made progress on improving the labor obligations in the new agreement, but that is not worth much if you dont have tough enforcement. And senator brown and i are working on this. And also, to provide a backstop to protect American Workers from being disadvantaged by unscrupulous factories in mexico. What would it mean for u. S. Workers if we were able to finally get full compliance by mexico of their labor obligations . Mr. Wessel it is the single most critical issue in the question of the balance between our two countries, the outsourcing of jobs, the relocation of a lot of our supply chains to mexico because of the artificially low wages in that country primarily stimulated by low current labor standards and no enforcement. As you know, there are roughly 700,000 protection contracts currently in place. The vast majority of which workers have no idea of whether they exist or what their terms are. Making sure that workers are paid a decent wage in return for their hard work, their creativity, their skills is a fundamental component of what we are looking for long term. Without strong enforcement, we are going to continue to have the same process and the results we have today. Sen. Ogden let me follow that up and try to take the enforceability issue beyond what senator brown and i have been working away from month now and weve been working with the speakers and house members and the like, i gather you have additional ideas for enforcing trade law and particularly nafta 2. 0. Any recommendations you would like to make . Mr. Wessel first, enforcement means that there has been injury and someone has been her in the someone has been hurt in the labor context. Our goal is to have the infrastructure in place to make sure that workers know what their rights are, are able to freely associate and enjoy the rights that they have, and that is a fundamental component of what you and senator brown have talked about in terms of the infrastructure. We need to make sure that the state to state dispute resolution is binding. We need to make sure that the front end of the process, we do not see what we saw in the colombia situation where we had an agreement that called for certain actions but those actions were not in fact adopted prior to certification. So a better certification process that we have had in the past. We also need the infrastructure to provide greater access to the enforcement process. All of the labor rights cases have been brought by organized labor. It is a very difficult process to enter and time consuming, we need to shorten that process, we need to make sure that it is timely. Sen. Wyden thank you. I did want to thank all of our witnesses. Thank you. I want to thank our witnesses as well, but i want to focus on some of the concerns that i have about this agreement. I want to start out by pointing out a really important fact that we ought to keep in mind. If and when we get to a vote on usmca in the United States senate, the choice we will be making is not between usmca and nothing. The choice will be making is between usmca and the existing nafta agreement. I say that because the president clearly does not have the constitutional or Legal Authority to unilaterally withdraw from nafta. Nafta is in place by statute. We should be clear about that. It is not going away, the president does not have the authority to do that. The question before us should be, is usmca a better agreement than nafta or is it not . Most witnesses here today and their prepared testimony have cited as one of the biggest benefits of the usmca reduction in trade policy uncertainty. Governor blunt, you said that usmca will come help bring a muchneeded stability to the auto industry. Mr. Collins, you correctly identified that the positive effects of usmca found by the International Trade commission come primarily from the certainty created by usmca. Because markets abhor uncertainty, that is also a quote. The question is where is all of the uncertainty coming from . It does not come from nafta. Nafta is a welldefined agreement that we have had for a couple of decades, and it establishes zero tariffs on 100 of nonagricultural goods, zero tariffs on 97. 5 of agricultural goods. The only uncertainty is whether people think we might be unilaterally withdrawing from it and the president has no authority to do that. The question we ought to be ising ourselves about usmca are the policy changes actually promoting growth relative to nafta . My colleague sometimes point to a study from the itc that shows modest gains to Economic Growth from usmca, it does. The itc found reducing policy uncertainty accounts are nearly all of the agreement. If you back out the little tiny boost to gdp of the reduced uncertainty, then the itc found that the usmca would reduce gdp by a very small amount. It is not a gain. About 23 billion over six years. That is despite the fact that analysis did not attempt to quantify and did not factor in two of the provisions that are virtually guaranteed to increase uncertainty and diminish investment, and reduce trade and act as a drag on growth. One is a sunset provision. The itc explicitly chose not to try to quantify the effects of that. The other is dramatic vetting of protection for american investors in mexico and canada. How could either of those things provide more certainty . They clearly dont. The sunset provision, this agreement goes away in 16 years unless everyone of the parties of the agreement agrees to extend it. We have no certainty. This is a provision that is in every single freetrade agreement that we have except for australia. It says that if mexican or Canadian Court treat our investors unfairly, they can seek recourse including monetary damages. This happens in canada as well as mexico. There is a case of a canadian local government trying to shut down a u. S. Application to open a salt mine by claiming that the mine violated the quote, Core Community values. It was obviously an invention that was made to discriminate american investors. The american investors challenged that and won. It works. Now we are going to under usmca, completely eliminate the investor state dispute mechanism for canada and virtually eliminated in mexico. There are provisions in the usmca that i think are constructive modernizations. The digital trade chapter is good. Some very modest reciprocal reductions in ag barriers. But it is worth noting these tpp and these could have been achieved without this. If we adopt this agreement, it will be the first time that i know of in the history of the republic that we will agree to a new trade agreement that is designed to diminish trade. The combination of the uncertainty in these provisions and the onerous new costs imposed on mexican automakers is designed to reduce trade in autos and diminish total trades. I dont think that is what we ought to be doing here. I would urge my colleagues to think hard before we endorse usmca. I so appreciate. I think the staff got it right with that mathematical sign that nafta is greater than usmca. We have to remember the great Economic Impact that nafta did have in some aspects of our economy. Im not saying in every aspect but certainly in the state of washington we import and export 3 billion. It probably accounts for 700,000 jobs in the state of washington. I agree with my colleague that we are talking about these things, we should be talking about expanding the economic opportunity. I agree, it is a modernization in some areas that were not previously included, but i want to also say that i support the chairmans great activities and getting the administration to relent on 232 tariffs on mexico and canada. I have a feeling that we would not have this hearing if that had not first been accomplished. I greatly appreciate that by the chairman and i greatly appreciate by the Ranking Member, his focus with senator brown and the enforcement on the ranking mechanisms. This, too, is a critical aspects. Ustr to have the capacity to follow up on disputes and forced trade agreements. I believe there is a big mark outside the u. S. , but we have to have the tools and the teams to make sure these agreements are lived up to. I wanted to ask you, mr. Wessel, earlier this year, mexico entered into new labor laws ensuring that mexican workers had the right to organize and bargain collectively. Now they have to create their independent labor courts and as you mentioned, colombia and the challenges we faced in getting the right infrastructure there to make these decisions. Now they have to implement these reforms. What do we need to do to build capacity in this area and dont we need to put in place enforcement tools to build capacity to protect and enforce labor rights . Thank you for your question and also the Market Opportunities that you are talking about are enhanced by having workers be able to enjoy the rights so that they are good consumers of our products. Having labor rights in mexico will enhance opportunities for our exporters of all products. What you are talking about is a critical issue and to thank you for your leadership several years ago on the trust fund because it helped establish the funding mechanisms we need. Mexico has a number of things it needs to do on its own, and in our opinion, it is far too lengthy. It is a four process. It is uncertain not only because of the constitutional challenges lodged more than 400 of them so far, but mexico has failed to either define their budget or appropriate the money that will come later this year. Helping on Capacity Building. The u. S. Helping on capacity Holding Capacity building means having people at our embassy who are able to go after the bill and support them. It means having capacity here to support unions and the free labor movements that we need we to have access to the process to make sure we do not have to go to enforcement where injuries are occurring, but we have to ensure capacity to make sure the agreements are a success. So you believe similarly to the customs bill and using using dollars to hire lawyers, we should hire more capacity to help implement these enforcement of Labor Agreement . As we have in other trade areas, there is a role for u. S. Resources. We are not going to pay for mexico to hire its labor inspectors, that is a governmental duty for them, but there is more infrastructure that can be put in place for mexico so the workers understand. It may be a north west perspective, but we definitely see an economy outside the u. S. , and the key is getting these issues right in making sure that we can enforce our agreements. Thank you for those ideas. Thank you. We thank all of our witnesses for your contribution to this. Usmca is an important agreement for manufacturers, producers, and farmers to maintain markets. We understand the importance of maintaining the trade relations between the three countries. I want to underscore a couple positive aspects. Tpa for avery hard on Good Governance and we worked in tpp for a Good Governance and the entire corruption provision, but i want to just acknowledge that those provisions are carried over into the usmca agreements on Good Governance and anticorruption. I hope that will be standard for agreementsll trade moving forward. I want to speak in favor of the access in the poultry industry which is very important of the Eastern Shore of maryland. I want to also agree with senator wyden on the point that you raised. I am ranking democrat on the Small Business committee. States, in the united the 800 limit is critically important. I am deeply concerned that because of the way that this is structured, the number could be significantly reduced, affecting Small Businesses because of the president demanding to have the nafta negotiate canada and mexicos role. Who gets hurt if he changes it is Small Businesses in the u. S. I do not know whether we will have an opportunity to negotiate that further, but the way that is worded, i think it is extremely damaging to Small Businesses and could be damaging to Small Businesses here in this country. I want to concentrate on the dispute settlement provisions and the fact that many of us think there is not effective enforcement on the u. S. Mexicocanadian agreement. We carryover the provisions of chapter 20 from nafta which means it is difficult to see how, mr. Wessel, you talk about the for your time schedule on labor, but if they do not follow it, what is the enforcement . What do we have . What do we do . We are limited under chapter 20 so even if we want to use our counter duty measures which is a blunt instrument to enforce our rules under chapter 19 which is carried over to the u. S. Mexico canadian agreement, canada and mexico have the right to challenge us on using our traditional trade remedy rules. It seems to me that we really compromised our ability to enforce the labor provisions, the environmental provisions, and others because there is not effective enforcement. Question, how do we within the context of the current agreement, fix that . Mr. Wessel that is one of the principal issues that you and others have raised. It is one of the issues that is being discussed between the usgr and the House Working Group to find a way to make sure that panel blocking is eliminated in state to state dispute revelations will work, but also supplemented and enhanced by some of the plans that will ensure that not only the capacity is within the structure, but that there are relief measures that are at a sitespecific location where there have been inadequate labor rights for workers. We need to fix the underlying provision and we need to supplement it with what senators brown and wyden are working on and under discussion between the house and the administration. I want to give anyone of you on the panel to respond to senator toomeys point about the sunset provisions. I find that somewhat unsettling the way the sunset provisions have been drafted in this agreement 16 years with a sixyear review that could leave uncertainty as early as six years from now. Does that raise concerns . One of the advantages would be to give us in the dairy industry an opportunity to make sure that canada is in fact following through on a limiting class six in class seven for the dairy industry which is very important. It is less of a concern on the dairy side because it gives us a chance a chance to pull out of the agreement. A chance and make sure that it is implemented in the way that it was intended. If it is not . We are to make sure the we have to make sure canada follows through. There is a replacement system for the mechanism they are currently using. It could have a positive impact, but we are wary because past agreements with canada have a fudge on their commitments. Thank you mr. Chairman. Thank you for holding this hearing. Very distinguished panel. I want to start with just some concerns i have about this administration does not seem to have a really coherent policy when it comes to trade. I would argue for decades, our trade policy promoted american values. We maintained to National Security issues. I feel we missed an opportunity in tpp particularly as a focus on americas relationship with china that we could have developed a regional counterweight against china both on trade with also on National Security concerns. The president took us out of tpp. On usmca, it is interesting to see that there are so many areas that there appears to me that usmca basically duplicates so we have already initiated in tpp. It was not like it was changing the standards. I worry that what we have seen from the administration when two allies like canada and mexico, that we have ended up antagonizing both those countries. I would offer for the whole panel, does anybody believe the highly contentious and adversarial process that the president took with mexico and canada actually strengthened our relationship . I will let the rest of the panel answer that, and then specifically, when the president goes about and threatens to shut down the border, what does that do in terms of uncertainty . If anybody wants to comment first, this notion of approaching our two allies with mexico and canada in a stronger way. Does that really build a relationship, does anybody know . I would be happy to respond, senator. From organized labor, you might find it strange that we did not believe that the tariffs on mexico and canada were appropriate. The goal of enhancing aluminum and Steel Production in the u. S. To support National Security was a goal, but the fact that the tariffs were applied more against allies than they were against those who were cheating and breaking the rules to us was an inappropriate structure and from day one, had said that they should not be applied to those two countries. We support some of the goals that the administration was doing, challenging china, but there is a lot of questions about the execution. I could not agree with you more. A goal was right but somehow the amount of damage that we did to canada and mexico, canada in particular, that we used a National Security provision to go against legislation. I want you to comment, i was go back to the secretary in a moment. First on the issue of whether created adversarial relations or concerns with some of the rhetoric, i think we can all agree and i am not really looking to be political with the statement, there may have been times where the way things were expressed could have been done differently or more delicately. I would also tell you that in my experience of having lived and worked in predominately and my working life, 70 has been working on north american trade activity with my customers. What has happened is the elevation of the conversation, businesstobusiness between companies to talk about the real issues and the underlying problems and why they need to be addressed has never been greater. Seldom do we go to a meeting that does not end up being an open, transparent dialogue about concerns, so i think there is a positive as well. As it relates to border shutdowns, any they threatened shutdowns it is a concern because it is a concerning of my customer. We would like to see and i think one of the things usmca does is gives the opportunity to provide certainty weith a can live with. I want to make sure i get the secretary in. When you get out of tpp, what happens when things like japan, u. S. Agriculture have come in and take advantage of the opportunity. Senator, the challenge that i think it had opened up to move into Market Opportunities that they did not have before. Europe accelerated their negotiations with mexico and japan once we pulled out of tpp to enter into a freetrade agreement that put at risk, names, put at risk geographic locations, and negatively impacted our capacity to do trade in both countries. Fortunately, the removal of 232 tariffs began the process of restoring that market in mexico and we are keeping our fingers crossed that negotiations with japan will result in us getting back in the market completely. On senator whitehouse, because we have three votes, this is how we will run the committee. He is voting and then when he comes back, i will go and vote on the first and second one, and we will keep it going. Senator whitehouse is next. Sen. Whitehouse thank you mr. Chairman and thank you to the panel for being here. Rhode island was pretty hurt by nafta. I think you are seeing interesting views across party lines because this is an area where geography and economy matter. I can remember going to manufacturing facilities and seeing holes in the floor and asking what they were, those were, those are the places where the machinery had been unbolted from the floor of the plant. They could be shipped from central america. The same product in the same customer on the same machine could be made in a different country thanks to nafta. I do not see this as a significant change. I agree that this is nafta 2. 0. You can call it whatever you want but it looks a lot like nafta. If you focus particularly on the environmental side, which i tend to, this is pretty bleak. In this day and age, if you can agree that an agreement does not even mention climate change. I mean, i dont know how grownups can write an agreement in this environment and not address Environmental Issues and not mention it. Second, it singles out the polluting industries to protect can h sds so they isds so they can bully countries which i think is unnecessary and inappropriate. I take as a signal the area of Marine Plastic debris, because the area of Marine Plastic debris is the one environmental area in which the Trump Administration has tried to give itself some degree of environmental credibility. We have had bills come through this body unanimously, it has been very bipartisan. The president gave strong remarks about the Marine Plastic waste. It is a tremendous problem, he said. Thousands of tons of this debris flowed onto our shores after it is dumped into the oceans by other countries. It is a tremendous problem, thousands of tons of garbage comes us. So i start in the proposition that on this issue, they are putting their best foot forward. This is how they are going to make up for the environmental disaster that the Trump Administration is. Once you look behind what the president and secretary pompeo says, what trade representative lighthizer says it aint good. Last year at the g7 meeting in canada, the u. S. Refused to assign the oceans plastic charter. In march at the u. N. Environment conference in nairobi, u. S. Interference produced nonbinding proposals. And the u. S. Rejected the final watereddown declaration. In june, the g20 failed to agree on Marine Plastic debris based on the u. S. Most recently, epa administrator wheeler push to have countries be exempt to new rules. Already agreed to that prevent the dumping of Plastic Waste without consent. The headlines i see on this g20 urges voluntary action on Marine Plastic crisis with the United States blocking demands. One unexpected Sticking Point at the g7, plastic pollution in the oceans. Why . The americans did not want to sign on. They hoped the u. S. Would agree to take joint action to tackle ocean pollution and in the end, it did not. The communique released at the end of the summit, we, the leaders of canada, france, germany, italy, the united kingdom, and European Union endorse the Marine Plastics charter. Guess who did not sign . The u. S. U. S. Accused of blocking ambitious Global Action against plastic pollution. March 15. All of those stories since march. If this is the way the Trump Administration enforces Environmental Concerns that it claims to support, then, look out for the other environmental enforcements. And as somebody who has been critical of the Obama Administration for the incredibly weak enforcement of environmental and labor going off i see us the cliff. Our companies are going to lose business to polluters and people who dump Plastic Waste into the rivers and other countries, and although there is a lot of big talk from the oval office about how this is their big environmental issue, when the rubber hits the road and when the negotiators are working, it is always the Trump Administration that is the weak link and dragging back against progress. I find the whole thing incredible at this point. Thank you. Thank you. I want to thank the Ranking Member and you for having this hearing. I would like to associate myself with senator whitehouses remarks right now the environmental enforcements and protections. Secretary vilsack, i want to follow up on some of senator grassleys questioning to you about the Enforcement Mechanisms that would ensure that canada reverses the unfair pricing policy for certain skim milk products called class seven products. As you know, canada has used a special pricing policy to undercut competition from American Dairy exporters including farmers in New Hampshire. You have raised concerns that canada could potentially work around and to create unfair milk practices that are like the class seven price in everything but name. Can you explain to the committee how that might happen in practice and how you think the usmcas elimination of this milk price could be effectively enforced . Sec. Vilsack thank you. There is no question that the class seven hurt farmers around the states. Six month after the ratification of these agreements by all three countries, canada has agreed to eliminate classics class six and class first and seven. Foremost, it is an opportunity to keep an eye on how that in them lamented. The agreement does contain restrictions or limits on how much can be exported in these areas. There are financial penalties if you will if those limits are exceeded. Obviously, it gives us a tool that we did not have relative to class seven. There is the opportunity for periodic review of the agreement and concerns that all countries can raise. Whether or not the agreement is being implemented. This is incredibly important. 70 of the powder produced in this country is exported. So anything that impacts the export of powder is a concern. We are hopeful that the limitation of class six and seven and the export limitations and penalties will provide a forceful mechanism for us to ensure that it is indeed a repeal of class seven and not a replacement with something similar to it. Thank you. As you know canadas supply management for dairy is not very transparent. We need to have effective enforcement of the usmca to ensure that canada does not restrict its dairy market in some new way. I also wanted to touch on another aspect of the agreement when it comes to dairies. Under the usmca, canada has a agreed. You have suggested that canada could still play games with these socalled tariff free quotas and you talked about that a little bit now. You pointed out in the past years that canadas tariff quotas, when people drive to New Hampshire to purchase Dairy Products. How do you think we can effectively stop this . Concern with how the canadians defined certain products and meeting quotas. You mentioned the fluid milk issue. Milk was a quota for fluid and they contended that they were complying with the quota because people across the border were coming back into canada. Obviously, the concerns of that practice raises ensure that we eye on these quotas. The good news is the amount of the quotas and the amount of the increase is greater than we would have received under tpp and we do not to share that quota with other nations. The opportunity to periodically review agreement gives us the chance to raise issue sooner rather than later and not have to wait for years and years. I think it is an opportunity for us to make sure that our canadian friends are following through. Thank you. Ms. Barnett, your story reminds me of the many small Business Owners in my state who are helping fuel Economic Growth. Unfortunately, both New Hampshire and oregon, the Supreme Court decision has created uncertainty for Small Businesses and entrepreneurs. I believe that trade certainty for a small amount of businesses is all the more important. That is why i am concerned about a footnote in the u. S. M. C. A. That would allow the administration to lower our socalled deminimus threshold that allows Small Business products to ship tariff free. You talked a little bit about this in response the Ranking Members question, but can you tell the committee how deminimus thresholds help cut red tape for businesses . Ms. Barnett when i ship a 40 pair of earrings to canada or mexico, usually mostly canada not so much mexico, it will generally fly across the border customers hands. If an item is over that certain amount, i am not sure exactly what the amount would be but it is around 40, the customer is going to have to run down to the Customs Office and pay a fine or extra taxes and duties just a collector item and sometimes it can be as much as what they paid for the item. It is a major hassle for you and for them and it is an impediment to your business. I am over time, so im going to perhaps follow up with you, i want people to understand how important it is to have of the to have consistent and predictable border policies and deminimus amounts. I look forward to talking more about it. Thank you. I know that mr. Portman is next, but i recognized i would recognize someone else next because of a schedule. I am fond of calling my longtime friend a nickname that is short for a movie star way back with regards to the person who started at high noon. And then we realized nobody knew what i was talking about. Nevertheless, for the first time cop coop, you are up. Thank you, mr. Chairman. It is almost tiny and and you are my chairman and i appreciate that. Like many people in the office, i had to look up gary cooper to see if i was flattered by that are not. Let me begin by saying that i want to associate myself with the comments that senator wyden said earlier about the strong bipartisan support there is for maintaining the increased u. S. Deminimus threshold which i think is something that he and i got signed into law. I think it is really important and i hope we can maintain those levels because i think it is important to our ability to trade effectively with other countries and make it easy for Small Businesses to compete. Quickly, this agreement i think is the most work or friendly trade agreement the United States has ever configured. A number of my friends across the aisle have expressed concern. I would just like a yes or no answer, given the choice between u. S. M. C. A. And nafta, which would you choose . Yes. U. S. M. C. A. . U. S. M. C. A. U. S. M. C. A. Is a significant improvement. The modernization of the rules, we would choose u. S. M. C. A. U. S. M. C. A. There are 2. 2 billion reasons for saying u. S. M. C. A. U. S. M. C. A. Thanks. Let me just say because my own view is that this is something we can get done quickly and i think it is an improvement if you look at the whole gamut from manufacturing to Digital Services to automotive to agriculture which i care deeply about, but the itc study said it would create 176,000 us jobs for wages fory and raise workers so again the bredth of the progress we have made, it is time to pass this to realize these economic benefits. Is there any reason we would not act now and could somebody explain what the cost of not acting would be . I will start. Our opinion is that we should act now. The cost of not acting would be the uncertainty we are talked about several times today. In corporate america, we are we go through processes not dissimilar from the federal government to figure out and allocate capital expenditures. That number is at or around 300 million per year. Not knowing without great certainty that the u. S. M. C. A. Will be ratified makes it difficult to make decisions. We have invested heavily on the southern border and our operation is 100 acres a largest operation of its kind on the southern border. We would like to see that certainty. I personally believe its a step forward and the time to act is now. My view is that we cannot afford the current situation. We cannot afford to see jobs like the bakery workers in chicago and philadelphia making oreos now gone to mexico where workers are making . 97 an hour. The last time i checked, the oreo package is not sold any cheaper here in the United States. Usmca with its provisions of labor laws that will be effectively enforced and implemented can help change that and we are working for that. I would just add that to put ourselves in the role of our customers and as a farmer, typically they make decisions about what we plant 12 months ahead. They planted the seed and Farm Management plan so having that certainty of where the demand will come from in the Global Market really helps in that decisionmaking. Growers will come through a tough year in 2019 and they are trying to make the best decisions they can for 2020 but having certainty with that market looks like could be beneficial. I could not agree more. Farmers and ranchers in my state are facing a ton of uncertainty with these ongoing trade negotiations not sure what the rules look like in the future is very problematic. The one thing we have in front of us that we can get done now and that starts to change that trajectory is this agreement. We need to get it done and those in kansas the chairman represents desperately need this i hope we get it done thank you mr. Chairman for the courtesy to let me go for. Thank you for being here today this is a great hearing to build on the momentum to get usmca done. Because one of my colleagues had a charter earlier. Had a charter earlier. I thought it would be dueling charts. Sam is doing an awesome job. Excuse me. Too complex for me. I am going to make it simple. The reason i like u. S. M. C. A. Better than nafta is that it doesnt modernize an agreement that a 25 years old, so things like the Digital Economy we have to upgrade it. And that is done and i think that is going to be very helpful. We talked about the threshold, but we did not talk about the fact that mexico and canada have to raise that de minimis threshold. Not as much as i like but the alternative is nafta. I guess you could say nothing is the alternative to nafta be bound to theirs anyway for the the choice is not about enforcement or not its about the standard is enforceable and in nafta we dont and in usmca we do. Community is supportive of it and i appreciate you being here to talk about it secretary bill sack. We have things in the agreement that we have not had in any agreement. Some of my democratic colleagues who have talked for years about some of these issues including it surprises me they are finally saying they can accept victory because this is what they have been asking for. We will start with the number of jobs created. An independent entity does their jobs,is, 176,000 new enforceable labor standards, are they in nafta, no. The same with Environmental Standards. 70 of this deal are vehicles made including in mexico have to be made with steel from north america. Thats a big deal. Thats something i dont think has been talked about at all. In usmca its certainly not in nafta. Workers making at least 16 per hour. Wrigley its surprising that a Republican Administration would negotiate that, but they did and for democrats to have a look at it and say thats not good enough, give me a break. This is what many of my colleagues have been calling for for years. Thats in this agreement. It is not in nafta. These are just an example of some of the differences and i think if we are objective about it and point out what the differences are, i think its an easy decision for republican or democrat that really cares about these standards. You talked about how you would like to see more certainty on the enforcement side. I get that. Overhe work youve done the years with steelworkers and others and we made some progress. You are looking for a way to ensure we can have better standards. I would say of course we want them to fully implement these agreements. If we want mexico to do all of that, the hiring of thousands of judges and labor rights professionals, take labor just as seriously, we need to make good on our end of the bargain. In other words, mexico adopted these reforms legally, changed their laws and statutes because of disagreement and our willingness to say they make good say we make good on our promise. I want them to fully implement the law because i know it will create the level Playing Field for workers. We also have to consider what governs the rules for u. S. Mexico trade. During the transition period is it better for American Workers to compete under naftas rules that lack labor enforcement or under usmca rules . Making the rules of working stronger . Thank you for your question and thank you for your work leveling the Playing Field. Let me respond if i can not only to that question but to the chart as well because we are still working to improve some of those standards. As it relates to the 70 of the aluminum,he steel and it would allow for chinese carbon steel to be imported into mexico, transformed into body panels and qualify as originating similar for aluminum. We are seeking to fix that and have been engaged in discussions with the administration on that. Your last point about the earning at least 16 per hour is actually an average provision. You could have two people making 28, which is often the base salary, three people and then you would have a number that could make 12 and it would all be averaged in. So behind each one of the provisions you have outlined theres still a lot of work that needs to be done and we are working on that. We are working on trying to have a highvalue target approach, working with the administration to make sure and certain sectors lets take autos and auto parts contribute so much to the bilateral deficit where weve deficit where weve seen so much job loss, thank you mr. Chairman. You,tary, when i first met i think it was new Governor School hosted at the hotel dupont. Previously i applaud you for the wonderful work you did as governor. To be secretary of agriculture is great to see you here today so welcome. I have a question for three of our witnesses, question for jim , and for you tom, raisedn, an issue that i at our last trade hearing about a month or two ago in june involving the enforcement of the new nafta through state to state dispute Settlement Systems. State to state dispute Settlement System and the new nafta continues to allow for panel blocking. The main reason a dispute Settlement Panel has not been established since the early 2000s i recall. The Transpacific Partnership made changes to fix panel blocking but these improvements were not included in the new nafta. A number of the provisions have been included. This is one that has not been included. From a statement of administrative action the appears theon it white house plans to use section 301 tariffs to unilaterally enforce the new nafta when a dispute occurs. Im concerned that using section 301 of tariffs as unilateral enforcement mechanism would likely invite retaliation from canada mexico and as weve seen over the last year and a half or so American Farmers are often times the first target for retaliation. For jim, theestion secretary and for you. We have heard from just about all the Witnesses Today on the importance of business certainty. Its part of my dna as well. How with the Administration Section 301 tariffs on china and chinas retaliatory it tariffs impactustry business in the industries you represent . Thank you, senator. And production agriculture we have a deep history of cooperation with canada and mexico some of the statistics i shared earlier with exports being up 350 since the adoption of nafta. These areas we are talking about covered by usmca, we have a good traditional relationship. We do need to have some mechanisms in place to resolve disputes. Theres no doubt about that and its our view that no one country should have the ability to block the enforcement, the Panel Process you mentioned. ,m not a trade expert especially around the specific mechanisms that can be utilized for those enforcement so i will leave that to the administration. Nd to congress what we would hope for in that dialogue and discussion would be a system that is the most agile and action oriented in enforcement system as possible. Despite the successes weve had to have some mechanism is important. Thank you, senator. You and i share something in common. We both married up. They did not too badly they did not do too badly either. We were headed in the first five months of 2018 to a record year of exports with china. The assessment of tariffs resulted in us you losing that momentum in us losing that momentum resulting in the decline. Momentum when we talk about democrats efforts to strengthen Labor Protections and enforcement of the new nafta these are not insurmountable challenges. But every time the president threatens to pull out of nafta, or creates more uncertainty for businesses and jeopardizes the opportunity to fix naftas shortcomings so we can get a trade agreement that works for all americans i think that is greater uncertainty. I would like to ask our witnesses, would you agree threatening to put tariffs on imports from a Major Trading partner on an issue completely unrelated to trade has increased uncertainty and held back our economy in the past few months . I can start. Definitiontariffs by create uncertainty for industry. Specificallyy tariffs have created some impact with customers, specifically you mentioned china earlier and the felt. Has been at the same time, the offset is we have to acknowledge there have been other issues on the intellectualproperty side is immigration worthy of putting tariffs that disrupt economic realities . Im not an expert on that does not take an expert you are uncertainty. I had just about every major ceo of a company come to visit me when the committee was considering tax reform and while they had different visions of what tax reform would say the one Common Thread regardless of what sector of the American Economy they were involved in they said two things, no matter what your tax policy is give me predictability and certainty and we will make money. Thepresident is driving greatest lack of predictability and creating the greatest amount of certainty in his tariff wars and you all stay quiet over it. Pretty amazing. When usmca prohibit the president from imposing terrorist for issues not related to trade . No senator. Deep concerns about the use of tariffs because every time the tariffs are utilized it is agriculture that pays the price. , other we pass usmca issues could be a source of Economic Uncertainty. Let me ask you this, is it correct the usmca and nafta have essentially the same procedures governing withdrawal . Are any of you can any of you give me a yes or no answer . They are the same procedure. If they are the same procedure we find ourselves facing the same uncertainty if a president of the future threatens to withdraw over an issue like immigration . I think the hope would be the president and congress eventually end up with a comprehensive Immigration Reform package that makes sense we passed one in 2013 with six to seven votes in the senate only to languish in the house and never get a vote. The point is when you use tariffs for nontariff issues, for nontraded issues, you are creating and disrupting uncertainty. Turning to labor before mexico and acted the labor reform package. A lot of work between having reforms and making those reforms enforceable. What should we be looking for when it comes to questions of implementation, resources and enforcement so we can finally get an agreement with mexico that addresses shortfalls and labor rights . Columbia is an example of where we went wrong. Im a big fan of columbia as a country, come along way. I did not vote for the trade agreement because did not have enforceable protections. Everything i was worried about is happening. What should we be looking for as it relates to mexico . Withthink we experience columbia the certification of its compliance with standards and the action plan before those provisions were appropriately implemented has given us pause and we believe there needs to be strong certification provisions in the usmca that will ensure there are certain steps that have to be taken before the agreement enters into force. Those would look at what mexico has identified publicly as the steps they will take to hire the inspectors, the judges to put the infrastructure in. What we need to do to support that through a variety of mechanisms that would support facilitation and Capacity Building on the ground. No one should think nafta is going to enter into force on january 1 if we pass it in the next couple of months. Theres a lot of month a lot of work that needs to be done so we have the confidence that you are raising about mexico doing the right thing. Mr. Chairman, could i make one comment to the last line . I was attempting to make it several times. This idea of it being unrelated and immigration being unrelated. There was some very direct relationships for us. As customs and Border Patrol p will and assets were being shifted from customs the Border Patrol, we saw crossing times go from 45 minutes up to nine to 11 hours for extended times. And ourt in slowdowns ability to deliver to customers. There was connectivity in our view. Those wait times increased because of a differing policy because otherwise those crossings would be more effective. Senator brown. Seven minutes before the vote so dont worry, i will be on time. I dont think ive been on a trade hearing, and i have been to a lot of trade hearings, that has had a better panel than this panel representing all segments of the American Economy and industry. Thank you for coming and you made excellent statements. Feathers in your cap with regards to that. I wish we would quit beating up on nafta. In regardsthe days to the great chairman of the sometimes powerful house of agriculture committee. I was the Ranking Member, the distinction of doing that. We worked terribly hard on nafta. Take me to florida, to texas where there was opposition. Im a little mixed with this nafta but heres a guy who wants it so let him top. Let him talk. We had a good time. Andou look at the progress the several decades that followed, i had a whole series of questions to ask but i have sack. Rn to tom vil i remember when he was secretary and now in his current role. , im concerned if this theinues with the tariffs, tariff retaliation or with agriculture i want to look at that scope. Medication payments, never expected that. Farmers dont want a youth, they want trade. You have been a great proponent for that. Andknow if we did it in 18 19 with the demands satiation we see debt if we can possibly get that that is an uphill battle and i am just very worried other than effects of Mother Nature on world demand 2020roduct where we are in , 2021, 2022, if this keeps up, we are to lose a lot of folks in Agriculture Sector and once that happens, it is very hard, when you lose a market it is hard to get it back. When you lose a farming operation it is seldom that you get the same family, may be somebody else will jump in and take the plunge. Get do you say if we do not better situation with trade down the road for agriculture . And im talking about looking over the hill not right now. Thank you for the question last year we lost seven dairy farms a day. In large part because of Market Conditions and circumstances impacting and being impacted by trade. I think the future for american agriculture can be quite bright because there are rising middle classes, increased populations and an opportunity to feed an ever increasing population that plays to the strength of american agriculture. I think its going to be important for us to have trade agreements that provide a level Playing Field for our farmers and for american agriculture. In japan by pulling out of tpp we invited the European Union to come in, complete their freetrade agreement. If we dont get a fair level Playing Field in japan with european friends and new zealand friends, we can lose one third of our market share in our number four market as opposed to the possibility of increasing the volume by twice the volume and triple the volume of dairy sales in japan if we had a level Playing Field so that is an example of the opportunity that of the opportunity that exists but does require a trade agreement that levels the Playing Field. It starts with the usmca because that is where our number one market is in mexico, preserving that market and expanding opportunity in canada. I appreciate your comment. I want to thank all the witnesses were emphasizing the , the unitedca states marine corps always and a fair trade deal too. Thank you to all the witnesses we will do the best we can and we have been working hard. All of us have in a bar partisan way. Thank you senator roberts. I want to focus on the need for force meant rce antioutsourcing provisions. We know that corporations offshore jobs for lowwage countries like mexico because it helps their bottom line in 2014, goodyear, and Iconic Company headquartered in akron announced they were going to make a 500 Million Investment in a new manufacturing facility in the americas i wrote the ceo urging him to consider building that plant in ohio with our highly skilled generational workforce. It opened build in 2017. Representative blumenauer, the ways and means committee, i they that committee ask in advance if they could tour the facility, goodyear said no. They showed up at the facility they showed up at the facility and ask if they could enter, goodyear said no. We know why the company does not want members of congress to tour the facility. Workers there make less than six dollars per hour. Far lower than the 23 per hour their american counterparts make , subject to a protection meaning a collective bargaining governmentseir past and others by the employer for the employer between 600 and 800 workers went on strike to protest working conditions the company turned around and fired dozens of these workers, goodyear built that factory in mexico because instead of akron because they did not want to live up to u. S. Labor standards. They did it at the expense of american jobs. Trade agreements let them get away with it. This new nafta is no different. Our first goal must be to stop american jobs from going to mexico. At this administration does not make improvements so that the you. Outsourcing provision i know you are on the board and you have responsibility to goodyear. I ask you to answer these as the labor representative on this panel and since i dont have a lot of time left i ask you give yes or no answers. You agree Companies Like goodyear built new factories in mexico and not in the u. S. Because they can pay the mexican workers lower wages . Do you believe u. S. Company would deny u. S. Members of they would not want elected officials to see their labor violations at that facility . Yes. Do you agree without the changes democrats are asking for the new nafta will allow companies to make off shoring decisions like that with impunity . Yes. Inspectionsree that i described earlier are necessary to make sure nafta is outsourcing provisions mean something . I would say it is vital. I ask unanimous consent to insert two things into the record. The letter i wrote to the ceo of goodyear. The ceo of goodyear to Richard Kramer in 2014 urging the company to build new factory in ohio. Second is the letter sent to the same ceo, mr. Kramer, by House Democrats asking the company to respond to worker reports of labor violation at the facility that those members of congress were denied access to. Without objection it will be included. Senator cortez. Thank you mr. Chair. I am committed and ive said this in the past, to work collaboratively to get a positive outcome. Theres some good things within the proposal that ive seen. We also know more work needs to be done. I want to reaffirm my hope that the administration will continue to work with the democrats to incorporate the brown widen labor proposal and to ensure bipartisan support i also want people to know that in nevada we have a dairy industry so there are good proposals and opportunities. So thank you for the hard work. Bit about itlittle earlier, the protection contracts we are dealing with mexico. I understand mexico wants to phase in compliance over four year period is your understanding of why are the old protection contracts allowed to continue for up to four years before they are phased two things. The provisions of mexicos labor law, if fully implemented, funded, etc. , for requiring that for any new contract, it would be voted on by workers. During the fouryear, everyone of them will have to be voted on. They have tried to have an orderly process with 700,000 or however many of those agreements exist. They are trying to be able to accommodate that. Our view is it needs to be a shorter period of time and frontloaded in terms of making sure the most trade impacted or trade sensitive ones be voted on early. And what is the shorter time you would be looking for . I would like to see this by mid next year. Is this something that you identified earlier that the u. S. Gr, the House Working Group, is this something they are working on as well . As i said earlier, this administration has been more aggressive about engagement, more responsive than any i have seen and i have done this 40 years. There is still a lot of work, and this is one of the items on the table, and i do not think that democrats are willing to push their chairs away from the table until this issue is addressed as well. How long do you anticipate it will take for the Mexican Government to build the legal infrastructure to ensure that reforms are fully implemented . They have a document for a schedule of implementation. We think those need to be kept strictly to the schedule and as i said earlier, entry and the force of the agreement should be delayed until there is certification that they are living up to the standards and the commitments they made. Thank you, all of you, for being here. Thank you, all of you, for being here. I have two questions i want to ask and then if nobody else shows up, we will adjourn. The u. S. International trade commission has highlighted the agreement will have a number of important economic things including 176,000 new jobs for our country, but you say the benefits will be even larger for the u. S. Auto industry. I would like to have you since , you have a good view on this, could you explain how you came to that conclusion and the benefits that i read about . Certainly, thank you for the question. We believe the changes in the u. S. M. C. A. , particularly the changes in the rule of origin will drive tremendous investment in the u. S. And in north america, but the United States in particular. Analysis based on plan submitted by the companies for what they will need to do in addition the plans that they followed and that they will need to comply. If you aggregate those, you have 34 billion of new automotive investment over a fiveyear period. 23 billion of annual sourcing. Conclude over 76,000 new jobs. We think the jobs numbers particularly are conservative, but all of those numbers are fca,to support with the ford, and a deep footprint in the United States that have 6 6 billion in investment. And the need to comply with u. S. M. C. A. Rules is part of the they looked at the investment in the u. S. Thank you for the answer. I want to ask mr. Wessels, do you agree or dont you agree three questions. Do you agree that this is the first time that we have had such strong labor and environmental commitments in a freetrade agreement . Mr. Wessel yes, but they need enforcement provisions and certain standards need to be fixed. I have publicly expressed my willingness as lighthizer is doing to see how we can hit this to the u. S. House of representatives. By any major labor environment and the agreement exceeding those of any other freetrade agreement, would you agree on that . On labor, they are a step forward, which labor has indicated on environment. There are number that are not subject to commitments of the environment is not actually a step backwards in many areas. The u. S. M. C. A. Labor commitments have heavily encouraged mexico to commit to expeditiously implementing historic labor reforms, do you agree . And i think i heard through a if it is aestion, repetitive question, please answer. We are appreciative of the steps that mexico is taken to implement the constitutional changes in the past two years. They still need work, and we are in fact deeply engaged, to make sure that they are able to implement all of those on the ground. As i should for the hard work that all six of you have put into this is to thank you for your kind commandment and being here from your busy schedules to answer questions. Your input has been extremely valuable. I think i want to see this agreement get through even if some changes have to be made to satisfy it to get it through the house of representatives, because we have a chance to benefit our consumers. For the benefit of staff who are still here, but i think it is pretty normal, we will have until close of business, august 13 for questions to be submitted in writing and if you folks get such questions, i hope you will respond. Thank you very much. Meeting adjourned. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [no audio] host Ellyn Ferguson of cq roll call, the usmca named a replacement to the nafta what are some of the major changes