Transcripts For CSPAN Washington This Week 20180127

Last fall at the education summit, the governors and i agreed to help look for ways to make sure that our kids are ready to learn. The very first day they walk into the classroom. I have made good on that commitment by reporting a record increase in funds, and extra half 1 billion for something near and dear to all of us. [applause] our approach protects the quality of care and peoples choices. It builds on what works today in the private sector to expand employerbased coverage to guarantee private insurance for every american. I might say, employerbased private insurance for every american was proposed 20 years ago by president Richard Nixon to the United States conference. It was a good idea then, and it is a better idea today. [applause] we cut taxes. He cut taxes for 95 of working families. We cut taxes for small businesses. We cut taxes for firsttime homebuyers. We cut taxes for parents trying to care for their children. We cut taxes for 8 million americans paying for college. Watch sunday, starting at new eastern, on American History tv on cspan3. Cspans washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up sunday morning, how cuts in military funding affect readiness with the heritage foundation. And the future of daca. We will also look at how shortterm government funding bills can impact government agencies. John autolock will join us for that. Be sure to watch washington journal, at 7 00 eastern sunday morning. Join the discussion. Officials from canada, mexico, and the u. S. Are in canada for ongoing talks about the future of nafta. According to a report from reuters, u. S. Officials are considering some of canadas proposed changes to the treaty. We will hear more now about the nafta trade talks from todays washington journal. Here to talk a little further about some of the industries impacted by the nafta negotiations, we have Jennifer Thomas, the federal Affairs Vice President of the alliance of automobile manufacturers, and ian jeffries, the Vice President of government supervised president of Government Affairs at the association of american railroads. Think you both for joining us today. Started, remind us of what your organizations do and how they are funded . The association of american u. S. ,ads represents the canada, and mexicos freight railroads. We also represent the Rail Industry suppliers, and we are the lead policy standardsetting, research basically, all of the above when it comes to d. C. Policy for the Rail Industry and its suppliers. Jenniffer . Jenniffer we represent 12 automakers. Companies we represent represent about 70 of the new car and light truck market in the u. S. We are also a leading Advocacy Group for the Auto Industry in washington. Host ceos have come together on the issue of nafta. Tell us a little bit about what is behind that. What interest do you have in common as nafta is under renegotiation right now, under the tape talks trade talks . Jennifer for the Auto Industry, there is a great deal at stake, perhaps more than any other sector in this debate. Nafta has been critical to the success of the Auto Industry. We are in the middle of a manufacturing renaissance, since the Great Recession in 2008. Nafta has been critical to that resurgence. We are hopeful that we emerge with a successful outcome, a modernizedafta nafta that strikes the right balance and preserves the industrys competitiveness globally. Ian four freight railroads, we are the conduit to International Trade for the u. S. Economy. 41 of our traffic is directly related to International Trade. 36 of our industrys revenues, 50,000 jobs are directly related to imports and exports. We annually export approximately 330 million tons and import about 170 million tons of goods to and from our nafta trading partners, and the Auto Industry is an excellent example. Almost 75 of finished automobiles go on a train and are delivered to market. When it comes to International Trade and international movements, our industry is at the forefront. Host and we are joined by ianifer thomas and jeffries to talk about the latest round of nafta negotiations. Our viewers can call. 202 are a democrat, 7488000. If you are a republican, 202 7488001. If you are an independent or 02. Er, 202 7488920 article, to an reporters are talking about this thee and the importance of latest round of negotiations. It says in part, if negotiators cannot Reach Agreement on key provisions of the 23yearold trade pacts, it is in danger of outright termination. Nafta has dramatically increased trade between the three member nations from 290 billion in 1993 to 1. 1 trillion last year. Die, eager for a competitors will be ready to pick up the pieces and welcome even more north american manufacturers to relocate and lower their cost of doing business. Jennifer, talk more about this and what this could mean for the Auto Industry . Jennifer sure. As i mentioned, nafta has enabled the industry to remain competitive around the globe. Should nafta go away, it will really set is behind other countries. Us behind other countries. There are three Global Platforms if you are an auto manufacturer. North america, europe, and asia. Those three regions will pick up the pieces and takeaway production and market share from the u. S. We need to be mindful as we proceed in these negotiations that we ultimately do what is best for the economy and for the consumer and for the American Worker. Host and in the interview we did with will, he mentioned that the Auto Industry particularly is something that is coming up in the current round of negotiations. What do you expect to come from that . Jennifer our industry is very much in the crosshairs of this debate. The administration has put our target in pointing is aow the trade deficit part of our industry, and we are the result of it. The focuscerned that on the trade deficit is really not the measure to be guiding this debate. Calleds an issue Automotive Group of origin, which is very much front and center in this debate. It dictates the amount of content that has to be produced and sourced from north america in order to qualify for dutyfree treatment. Rule ofw, that existing origin in nafta is the highest of any trade agreement in the world. What the administration is proposing is to take that and make it even more stringent, and not only make it a requirement to have to sourced from the north american region, but have to source from the u. S. , which is very unprecedented. They willeful that moderate from that proposal, and we will end up with a rule of origin that continues to strike the right balance and does not harm the industry or the consumer, the American Worker. Host i want to look at what the president has said about this. According to reuters, the president said that nafta, terminating nafta would yield to a better deal. Trump onresident wednesday said terminating the north American Free trade agreement would result in the best deal to revamp the 24yearold trade pact with canada and mexico. It says lawmakers as well as agricultural groups have warned trump not to quit nafta, but he says that maybe the outcome. Do you think a better deal can be struck if the usa pulled out of nafta . I think our members feel pretty strongly that is not the direction to go. We take a pretty macro view when it comes to nafta right now. It is a most a quartercentury old, so updating absolutely. An option, is not not a viable option in our opinion. Our view is that first and foremost, do no harm to the core of nafta. Keep the agreements trilateral, and lets create some certainty when it comes to nafta. Ons economy thrives certainty, certainty on the tax code, in the regulatory space, and certainty in the trade space as well. That is what we need to keep the economy moving forward and i think it would be the wrong direction to pull out to try to get a better deal. Host we are joined by Jennifer Thomas, the Vice President of federal affairs for the alliance automobile manufacturers, and also ian jeffreys, senior Vice President of Governmental Affairs with the association of american railroads. We are talking about the nafta negotiations. Again, democrats can call 202 7488000, republicans, 202 7488001, and independents, 202 7488002. Eric is on our democratic line in atlanta. Good morning. Caller [inaudible] but theus tax breaks, only thing that trump did george bush at least gave everybody. Thatter on found out [inaudible] you will never be able to tell the effects of it. This is nothing but the stock market, which president obama put all this economy and place in order for the economy to be going like it is. Jobs, but nowmore let me get to nafta. Policy. A republican it started up under george bush and reagan. People say bill clinton signed it, but it was put in place by a republican majority. Host i want to give our guests a chance to response to that. Ian, can you talk about the history of nafta and how it came about . Ian sure. Aller mentioned, it was negotiated for quite some time and signed into agreement under president bill clinton. What we have seen in our industry specifically is that we have seen a dramatic export in Goods Movement out of the country as well as into the country, with nearly twice as much out of the country and cargo we are moving. In fact, the largest Product Movement trade wise for our exports to mexico. We see that nafta at large has benefited the u. S. Economy. Host i know that there is a view that even if we do not pull out of nafta that there are, there is room for improvement. Where do you think that improvement can come . Ian the caller made an excellent point, that nafta was negotiated a long time ago. Nafta is nearly a quartercentury old, so it is time to modernize nafta. We support the administrations goals in doing so. We believe that the economy and certainly the Auto Industry have transformed a great deal since nafta went into affect. The agreement can be updated to reflect the changes, so a lot can be done in regards to customs and trade facilitation, flex abilityo the of the digital economy. The internet was just Getting Started in 1994, so allowing for crossborder data flows, there is a lot that could be done with regulatory cooperation to make sure the region remains the leader in regulations, and enabling thee economy to continue to be , andtitive globally is key should be front and center in this debate. Host paul is on the line from new york, independent. Good morning. Caller hi, i am from upstate economy innd our upstate new york was devastated by nafta. We lost hundreds and hundreds of jobs, our factories move down south, wages have been flat ever sense. Ever since i understand why tariffs could not be negotiated so that you know, the average working people would not be thrown out of work, which is what nafta did. The price of cars has steadily went up since nafta was implanted just implemented, but wages have stayed flat. And one final note, why are there no guests that represent the people that lost their jobs to this horrible bill . That is my comment. Host jennifer, what you think . Ian in the jennifer in the Auto Industry, we support over 7 million jobs in this nation. Since nafta was enacted, we have 14 automakers in 14 states operating 44 is a live plants. Assembly plants. The industry has transformed, and a lot has been done in the area of automation. In regards to the industry, we believe we are winning under nafta. We have seen the industry producing one million more vehicles last year than in the year before nafta was enacted. 12. 2 million vehicles, which equates to 137 billion. To grow ournuing exports. We export twice as many vehicles as we did then the year before nafta was enacted. We believe the facts are on our side, that nafta has been good for the industry. But we are very much concerned about the American Auto worker, and they should be front and center in this debate. We will measure any sort of success in nafta as whether or not it is good for the American Auto worker. Talk aan, do you want to little bit about that . Are there perils from nafta as well as benefits . It. I think jennifer hit on you have a nearly quartercentury old agreement. Updating is absolutely appropriate, and everyone would that that there are things could be improved and could be changed, but again, keeping that core, fundamental in agreement fundamental agreement in place to us is essential. Host the chamber of commerce put out a list of states that would be hit hardest should the United States pull out of nafta. At the top of that list is michigan. It says it would put 366,000 jobs in that state that depend on trade with canada and mexico, according to the American Enterprise institute. 39 of michigans Gross Domestic Product depends on trade the highest in the nation. Other cities number two, wisconsin, three, north dakota, four, texas, and five, missouri. Talk about that regionally, ian. See some midwestern states, but also other places like texas that could be hit. Talk about how that will impact the United States . Ian texas specifically, the a colossalhere is amount of crossborder trade. Certain auto components, when it comes to railroads, we will move those components across the border six or seven times in development. It is critical to keep the flow of goods moving, and we have built up this supply chain over the past quarter century. Innovative, complex, International Supply chain, and not something you can tear up overnight without significant on surprises. Host a lot of the states, michigan, iowa, ohio, are important states politically as well. Ian jennifer absolutely, and President Trump one a lot of those rust belt states. You have seen recently a lot of governors of those states get engaged in this debate, and express their concerns to the administration because they see firsthand what the industry has done for the state of the economy. States economy they have transformed the economies across these states. U. S. Has made the attractive for several global companies, like toyota, bmw, mercedes. ,hey have all made u. S. Homes and bmw is a prime example. Their spartanburg plant is the largest manufacturing plant for them in the world, and it is an export hub for them. They have attracted a great deal of suppliers to south carolina. Have beenhese states transformed because of the industry and that is because of what nafta has created. Lou, republican line, baltimore. Caller good morning, thank you for taking my call. I will not be too long. In texas for 12 years, and i have been traveling around with the military and teaching. Companies may have profited with nafta, but i think overall, for americans, it has not been good because there have been a lot of people that i know, and people who know people that have lost jobs and been removed and so forth. I am very impressed that President Trump is surrounding himself generally with very smart people in the role different areas, and one of them is economics. I feel really strongly that he will do what is right, and nafta not necessary for our country to profit and prosper. I think we will do better without it. Host what is your reaction to that, jennifer . Jennifer i respectfully disagree. Nafta should not go away. It would have the opposite of the administrations goals. It would result in the industry and other industries becoming less competitive globally that will raise production costs, and that will have a Ripple Effect. That will result in sales declining, that will result in production decreasing and demands decreasing. That will result in businesses shuttering and jobs being lost. That is the worstcase scenario what we are trying to avoid in this debate. We strongly believe and remain hopeful that we can end up with a successful outcome in these negotiations, and that is our goal as an industry, and to modernize nafta and bring it into the 21st century so we can continue to remain competitive globally. Host we are talking with Jennifer Thomas of the alliance of automatic automobile manufacturers, and ian jeffer association of american railroads. I want to put forward this opinion piece in the washington times, saying that the president should ignore the polls from the chamber of commerce to not pull out of nafta. He says consider this one particularly agreed his aspect of nafta, investors dispute settlements regime. Empowers private attorneys as arbitrators to interpret United States laws and issue enforceable judgment in violation of the constitutions appointments clause. I. S. Ds enables Foreign Investors to challenge actions of the government of the United States before International Arbitration tribunals composed of three private sector lawyers. Operating out of our article three judicial system is this a problem to you . Is a keyreignty aspect, and a sticky one to work through. I certainly feel, and i know our industry feels there are paths forward to all of these Sticking Point that can work for everyone, work for all countries involved, and that is what we should be focused on. A Solutions Oriented approach rather than being stuck on these particular issues. Calling from frederick, maryland on our democratic line. Good morning. Ander hello fellow ian hello, jennifer. I want to reiterate the point that nafta was signed by not signed, but written by george h. W. Bush. It was the clinton signed nafta thing. That is all you hear. If you look at up on house. Gov, it says the majority of republicans voted for it, the majority of democrats voted against it. All you hear is clinton signed nafta. It is a propaganda point that fox news put out for a while, so it sounds like democrats are to blame for nafta. Nafta, reagan, heritage, you will get a glowing article from the heritage foundation, which you guys have all the show all the time on the show all the time, which says how much reagan wanted nafta and a big pat on the back to clinton for siding nafta signing nafta. Host we have the president to who is critical of this right now, and the Republican Congress where there was a lot of support. But is this a political, a partisan issue . Should approach be different under a Democratic Congress or president . Jennifer we are in an interesting time, where free trade was typically a republican priority issue. It seems to have flipped upside down, and now more democrats are supporting freetrade than republicans. But we do not think that nafta should be viewed in a partisan lines. Lens. Saw a bipartisan congressional letter be sent to the president discussing the principles of nafta and do no harm in the negotiations. I believe that both democrats and republicans truly see what nafta has done for the economy, and i think we should tread lightly in this debate. Don, calling from kalamazoo, michigan. One of the states that chamber of commerce said it would be impacted the most said would be impacted the most. Caller good morning. I am getting all fired up, and im not fighting nafta one way or the other, but i am tired of people blaming the republicans were passing nafta. Democrats had the white house, they had the senate, and they had the house. There was no way that the republicans could pass anything. All the republicans could have voted for nafta, but they didnt. They could have all voted for nafta. It still would not have passed the democrats put in the last few votes. It, as far as i can tell, the democrats were responsible for nafta . That is all i have to say about it. Been involved in meetings on capitol hill with both the house and the senate, and we have gone in with a broad Stakeholder Group that in includes not only business and auto groups, but agricultural groups. Just last week, we hit every office in the senate. I can tell you from the most conservative member to the most progressive member, we did not hear anyone say they thought the path forward was pulling out of nafta. We agree some updates and changes should be made, 100 , absolutely. But by and large, the view is that pulling out would not be good for this country. Host i want to get both of your views on another issue, which is tariffs on washington tariffs. The Washington Post reports that the proposeddemned tariff on washing machines and exposing simmering gop divisions over International Trade that threaten the Uneasy Alliance tween the president and lawmakers of his own party. I do not agree with it, i think it is a bad path to head down, senator roy blunt said of the tariff decisions. The retaliatory terrified is never a good fight and i generally think we need to be more positive about our trade opportunities. In, what is your reaction . Ian i think you are as is a legitimate concern, in which any time an entity puts tariffs on a isduct, which there reasonable assumption there will be another countermeasure. I think he is exciting some expecting some escalation across here that end up making the u. S. Less competitive in the wrong one long run. Jennifer i would add that ultimately, who pays the price is the consumer. Since that announcement, you have seen Major Companies washing machines announced that they would have to in price increase the price of their product. That is what we are concerned about in the nafta debate. If we end up with an unworkable nafta, then production costs will go up and ultimately, it is the consumer that pays the price. The average price of a car ay, 35,000, what we need the last thing we need to do is add unnecessary regulatory costs, which is what would happen if a bad nafta would emerge. Host bob, york, pennsylvania. Good morning. Good morning, thank you for taking my call. I was responsible for multiple to my prior retirement. We had a couple in the u. S. , and a couple of mexicos. Unfortunately, if you have to get to the real nittygritty and work with real people and see this impact, going in and seeing people cry, people being very theyrned and knowing that will not have that same standard of living because they do not have another job like this one was paying. A lot of this falls on the. Anagement of these companies it is easy to move something out of the country. It is more difficult to look at costcutting measures without cutting people, and effectively managing your organization. If you go to modern mexico, you are going back to the United States in the 1960s with all of the manufacturing companies. I agree. I do not think we should scrap nafta, but what are we going to do about that tuition, where we do not apply the appropriate pressure on our own country to try and keep jobs here. Towns are devastated in the northeast. If you go to pennsylvania, new york, they are devastated. There is no downtown. Host i want to give jennifer a chance to respond to that. Jennifer i would point out that since nafta went into effect, 15 new auto manufacturing plants have come up in the u. S. Mexico ande than canada combined. Just last year, we saw the industry announced 8 billion worth of investment in new plants and went into the u. S. This year alone, you saw toyota and mazda recently announcing a joint venture, where they will be building a new facility in alabama. We have also seen volvo announce a new facility in south carolina. There is a great deal of investment happening in this country. Theyre certainly could be more, and we are hopeful that in the negotiations of nafta, we could see that environment that enables and enhances investment here in the u. S. We support the president s goal in growing manufacturing and jobs here at home 100 , but scrapping nafta or an unworkable nafta is not the way to do it. Host i know a lot of times when we think about nafta and trade, we think about one direction or another, but a bloomberg piece pointed out, takes a look at a tiny, a Small Company in company ind michigan that makes circuit auto parts, and how complex it is. In this case, it begins where the parts are made, starting out with parts from asia. The company is based in grand rapids, michigan, but advise the parts it buys the parts and goes on to ship the parts to mexico, where they are inserted into the circuit board. They come back to el paso, texas, and then go on to mexico again. Wheret goes up to canada, seeds are inserted. Processesw so many work, that it is not just a ofway trade or a trait already manufactured goods, the United States, canada, and mexico are working together in a very concerted way for a lot of these companies. Pointhat story is case in demonstrating how complex and interconnected our supply chain has become in the past two plus decades. As i mentioned earlier, a lot of these products are moving by rail and moving back and forth across the border throughout the production process, all the way from the component up to the finished product. To think that you can pull out and pull out of nafta and overnight develop this Industrial Base within the u. S. It is tough to fathom that, and not something we would expect to see. Host i want you to talk a little bit more about the chain of supply, how railroads play a part. I think a lot of people think about automobiles when i think about trade, but talk more about how the impact this has on their lives . Ian sure. Our industry alone invests about 25 billion private capital every year into our networks. The is really facilitating flow of goods not only within the u. S. , but across the borders, into mexico and canada and into our ports that flow across the oceans to other countries. , beork with our customers it from manufacturing to industrial products, finished goods to agriculture, and work with them in their investments, citing as far as the most competitive situation for them. Our investments are driven by the customers decisions, and he is certainty and knowing what the rules of the play are going to be in trade, and our customers will make the investments they need, and we will make the investments to serve them. By jennifer joined thomas, of the alliance of automobile manufacturers, and the american, from association of railroads. Caller good morning, great discussion. I want to make a point. We are now in a Global Society and a Global Economy, and that is just the way it is. We need to operate within it and embrace it and embellish it. There is no turning back now. I am from the rust belt, northwestern pennsylvania, that ran on steel and railroads. , our individuals , the souls of our communities got torn to the floorboards. The whole area hit bottom, and we had to rebuild, piece by piece by piece over the last three decades with really no help from Corporate America or no help from the government. We have redefined the community that there communities up there and redefined the economy and became diverse. I would hate to think that all that process was in vain because now, we are starting to throw terrorists out there, which tariffs out there, which are not constructive. They hurt our trading partners. We just passed this massive text away to corporations tax giveaway to corporations who moved all their jobs overseas, and yet they are able to generate revenue overseas taxfree under the notion that it is double taxation. Host i want to give jennifer a chance to respond to this. Jennifer i think steve makes an excellent point. We are operating in a Global Economy, and it is hard to put the genie back in the bottle or turn back time. I think that is what would happen if nafta were to go away. We would be taking a huge step back while the rest of the world continues to move ahead in this globalized world. We want to continue being competitive. It is important that north america remain competitive, and i saw a recent study this week that was released by the trade partnership worldwide, the estimated that 1. 8 million jobs would be lost if nafta were scrapped. Thats in the first year alone. That would be devastating, and that is the wrong direction to be headed for this economy. The administration has put in place several probusiness measures that are attracting investment. We want to continue to see that happen, but should nafta go away, our Global Partners would certainly win while the u. S. Would be the big loser. Host chester, republican, worcester, massachusetts. Caller good morning. Morgan freeman and anna smith pointed out a long time ago that we all have self interests at heart, so i have a personal question for the commentators this morning. What are your income levels, and what do you stand to lose with the scrapping of nafta . Thank you. speaking of from speaking from our industry, our industry employs 180,000 folks directly within the u. S. These are collectively bargained jobs, good jobs, average wages and benefits near 100,000 a year, and that is what concerns us so much, putting these Good American jobs at risk by making a rash move when it comes to nafta. Host i agree, autofer i agree, and the industry supports nearly 7 million jobs across the country. We want to continue to see that number grow. Would be the nafta opposite effect, and as i just mentioned, has the potential to cost millions of jobs and would be devastating for the nations economy. Host jennifer, i want to talk a little bit about country of origin rules. President trump is proposing hiking the share of a typical in thet must be built three countries and adding an additional requirement for 50 of the requirement coming from the u. S. Help the u. S. Auto industry . Jennifer we believe that proposal is unworkable and would have the opposite of the ministries ands goal in this debate. The administrations goal in this debate. Right now, this is the highest rule of origin of any trade agreement in the world. We believe it strikes the right balance in nafta. It has incentivized companies to produce in this region, versus producing elsewhere and simply paying the 2. 5 import tariff. There is a delicate balance that needs to be struck. The existing rule has struck that balance. We are engaged in this debate heavily, because there is a lot at stake. Open to anyinly creative, new ideas that would maintain that balance and enhance the industrys competitiveness globally. Kurt, independent line, calling from brownsville, new jersey. Good morning. Ander thank you, cspan, my question is i am an old man, i am a machinist. I am skeptical that we can compete, period. But the way the country is going, it seems to be becoming a lawless state. I think trump might be trying to bring back the honor system. Heart, you know, and money is our blind, blind, blood, but we will not destroy the world. Money will find its source. Host ian, your reaction . Again, i think part of the reason the u. S. Remains such an attractive place to invest is that we do have strong rule of law, strong regulatory systems, predictable business environments. In an openis key trading environment, and that is all part of this that makes our economy attractive and successful. If anything policymakers do, they need to take a clear eyed approach to make sure we maintain this situation of stability. I want you both to talk a little bit about how your members are preparing in the event that President Trump does pull the u. S. Out of nafta. Ian . Ian one, we are working very hard to make sure policymakers are aware of all the negatives and theld calm come positives that have come from nafta. But we will make the investments necessary to serve our customers. We are in constant communication with our customers. I can tell you right now, several of our members have customers awaiting Investment Decisions on both sides of the border. Until this plays itself out. Customersied with our and remain concerned. Regardless of the situation, we will make the investments necessary to serve them as best we can. Jennifer we are very much engaged in this debate and watching very closely. We remain hope all that we hopeful that we emerge from the negotiations with a good nafta, a better nafta. I would say that we are i am not privy to my members contin gency plans, but they are taking measures should nafta go away. I think you have seen a lot of announcements recently, investment announcements recently, but again, we remain hopeful that we will service with a better nafta, a nafta 2. 0 that is better for the industry and good for workers. Host louise, republican, fredericksburg, virginia. Hi there, louise. Caller hello, louise. Well, considering that cars and trucks have quadrupled since nafta and as we see from the two i do notves that know who they represent, they are saying they represent the railroads and the automobile, but who do they really represent , and to our their members . Who are their members . Also, i would like to say nafta, essentially they have taken jobs from the country. That is all there is to it. It looks to me as if what you guys are doing is chuckling papers. Papers. Ling something has to go seven times around the world but mostly sourced in china, transported to mexico or to canada, and then they are shipped into the u. S. , who makes the money on the big parts . China, not us. How do you go about thinking that nafta is a good thing, because to me, you both are ridiculous. Host i want to get jennifer and to thosence to respond concerns, and to explain a little more about who your members are. Jennifer the Automobile Alliance has 12 automakers. Companies, detroit european Member Companies like and or sadies, jaguar, land rover, and we also represent automakers like toyota and mitsubishi. We have a diverse membership, but i would take a step back and say that nafta has really created an integrated regional supply chain within north america. Even if the vehicles produced are in mexico or canada, those support highpaying jobs here in the u. S. Before nafta, mexican produced of u. S. Y had 5 value content. Today, that figure is 40 . The 40 of a mexican produced vehicle is u. S. Content. So that integrated regional supply chain has allowed the north american industry to essentially become one and support jobs throughout the region. Host ian, talk a little bit more about the supply chain specifically, the case that was outlined by bloomberg, how the parts came from asia, manufactured all over north america, but the company is a Small Company based in michigan. Talk about how that happens, and who benefits, who profits from that product . s members arer the state railroads. The large, large class one railroads, but also the small locally owned railroads. So these are all custom music besting in a miracle. And your cut these are all Companies Investing these are all Companies Investing in america. We have developed supply chains with specialization in regions, countries, and towns that are able to specialize in certain areas of expertise can drive, and thrive, and the railroads connect them together. When you look at imports and exports when it comes to the railroads, we are exporting almost twice as many tons as we are importing across the borders to mexico and the u. S. Overall. Host the president talks a lot about trade deficits. Do we have a trade deficit with the other member countries in nafta . Ian i can tell you from our experience, we are moving a lot more goods out than we are importing, but at the macro level, i would not want to get into specifics where i am not qualified to. Host rich, virginia, democratic line. Caller hi, thank you for taking my call. My question is mr. Mceachin the mnuchiny mr. Announced that a weak dollar would be good for the country. I have never heard anything like that in my life, and the president backed him up on that. How does that affect the American Public, and further, how does that affect nafta when less dollar causes buying power for the American Public. How does that affect the Manufacturing Industry . I have heard nobody talk about it, some abcs band, going forward, if this becomes our new policy that so cspan, going forward, if this becomes our new policy, we should have a discussion on how the American Public feels about this. Host so how does the weaker dollar impact this discussion . I would sayjennifer that nafta has enabled the region to remain competitive globally. That has allowed production costs to remain low, which are on par with the other production platforms i mentioned earlier in europe and asia. Going back to your question about the trade deficit, we do not believe that is the right measure for this ongoing debate. Comparing the u. S. And mexican markets is like comparing apples and oranges. To give you an example, in 2016 of 17d sold a record point 5 million vehicles in the u. S. , and in mexico, they only sold one point million vehicles. 1. 6 million vehicles. You cannot compare the markets. The correct measure to be using in order to determine whether or agreement, revised is it good for the industry . Is it good for the economy . Is it good for the American Worker . Host we have seen some of the member countries, canada with Prime Minister trudeau, announced that he is moving forward with some lateral agreements beside this one. Bilateral agreements aside from this one. What does that mean to you . Jennifer jennifer that canada jennifer that canada is preparing for a world where there is no nafta. We have to be careful to not be left behind when we are seeing canada, by joining tpp, and the recent trade agreement with the eu, they are moving ahead in this Global Economy and embracing trade and liberalization. We need to continue on that path as well in order to remain competitive globally. Host tom is calling on our independent line from massachusetts. Caller good morning. Questionto reiterate a an earlier caller placed with both guests, and both guests redirected their answers to a different issue. The caller asks what do both guests stand to lose personally whatnafta to be ended, not do the people that have gained jobs from their associations stand to lose . Host do you want to take another shot . Ian look, we represent the freight Rail Industry. The economy goes, as our customers go, the freight Rail Industry goes. We thrive when the economy thrives, we dont when the economy does not. Jennifer likewise. Im here today representing the automakers, so that is why i highlighted the benefits to the industry. Said, if we are in a world operating without is not good for anyone, that is not good for consumers. Consumers nationwide have enjoyed the benefits of nafta, whether it be on the retail end, when you go shopping and enjoy low prices, or in the grocery store. You now have access to avocados year round, and i would personally be sad if that were not the case. Host the president talks a lot about the economy, we talked about a story earlier, about how there are very strong signs in terms of Gross Domestic Product, the stock market, how does nafta fit in with that overall discussion about the economy . Ian i think it is a major issue. Congress and Administration Work very hard to move the first copperheads of tax package in 30 years with a l of driving the economy, comprehensive tax package in 30 years with the goal of driving the economy, and it all comes back to certainty. Certainty when it comes to trade, tax regulation, and the specter of pulling out of nafta couldbe a hindrance, and definitely have negative consequences economically and when it comes to trusting companies. Republican line from birmingham, alabama. Good morning. Caller one factor that i think distorts the debate is with anyone, as one of your guests did, construe the question in terms of either you are for free trade, or you are a protectionist. That is not the way things work. Trades if one side has dramatically lower labor costs or if there is government subsidy, or you are dealing with Mass Immigration that tries down wages, you are not in a situation of either free trade or protectionism. So whenever a person does that, they wrap themselves in the shroud of the protection of free trade that does not exist. The other thing i want to say is part of the reason trump got test of whatat the our Economic System is right now is being played out in states like michigan, pennsylvania, and so forth. All of their numbers cannot erase from the minds and the experience of these people what has happened to their lives. They want Something Different than a lower price. They do not want their husbands and fathers working at walmart and thinking that the tradeoff is great, because they get a car that is a little bit less expensive. Host i want to give jennifer a chance to address this issue. , sincer as i mentioned nafta went into effect, 15 new ngto manufacturi facilities have sprouted up across the country. We support more than 7 million jobs in the supply side just alone. Saying betweent, 2012 and 2015, they saw a 19 increase in employment, in just the Supplier Community alone. So we are very much growing jobs continued to and do so. We hope a revised nafta will makee us to continue to the investments here at home, but i caution folks that should nafta go away, you would see the opposite effect. That would have a Ripple Effect throughout the economy, where you would see not only cost increases, but jobs decline. That would be incredibly harmful for the u. S. Economy. Host david is calling from texas on our republican line. Good morning. Caller good morning. Two things. First, to correct the guy from several calls ago, about n and trump mnuchi being in favor of the weak dollar. At the time, Steve Mnuchin did not say he was in favor of a weaker dollar. He commented that this was where the dollar was, and with the fluctuations that occur in the currency markets, he was not and was not going to do anything to change it directly at this point. Trump said the opposite and said he was in favor of a stronger dollar. I saw the words come out of his mouth. So they were not on tv somewhere advocating for a weaker dollar. As far as nafta is can turned, concerned, most of the developing world requires a much higher percentage of growth than we do. China has been concerned for if chinahow pulls off what it is doing, it will be the first country to grow at the rate it has ever, and have a soft landing. They still have relatively been having a soft landing from the growth rates they had, but they still require high growth rates to not have a tremendous disruption in their economy as they tried to move more people out of poverty. In the strongest position in the world is the greatest consuming nation in the world when it comes to if we did have a socalled trade war of some kind. I am not in an industry that is particularly,is so i do not have a dog in that hunt. I work in technology, it is a family business, so we will always be working in that area. Host i want to get ian a chance to respond to that issue. Go ahead. Ian right. Weake strong dollar versus dollar, i do not want to get into the details of that, but one thing we have not spent a lot of time talking about we have been talking about finished goods and manufacturing ag is a major part of trade and a major export for this country. 30 of all farmland is designated for export in this country, and that is one of the primary products we are pushing out to our nafta partners. Biggest crossborder movement , to mexico for net imports of grain. We need to look across all sectors. Host Jennifer Thomas, Vice President of federal affairs for the alliance of automobile manufacturers, and ian jeffries, senior Vice President for affairs at the American Association of railroads. Thank you for joining us this morning. Suzanne washington journal, coming up, how dakota would from the Heritage Center bit than the future of daca with the indivisible project. A look at shortterm funding bills. Of trustdent and ceo for Americas Health will join us for that. Be sure to watch washington journal live at 7 00 a. M. Eastern sunday morning. Join the discussion. Now a look at nafta from the recent u. S. Conference of mayors who heard from the canadian and mexican ambassadors about how trade negotiations are going. This is 45 minutes. [inaudible conversations] good morning mayors we have had a busy morning. Welcome to all of you. I encourage you to take your seats. We have a great panel this morning. Welcome our live cspan audience as well. I am the mayor is the city of san diego. Welcome. Our session today is trade. The americas and beyond. One of the most important topics and we have been dealing with certainly in our area in our region. I think all of my fellow mayors are here today the members of the audience in the panel that you will hear from in a second. There has never been a more critical toxicities around the country to champion International Trade and what that means. That is a success and the foundation for many good quality jobs have been created. That is what we will focus on today and get some unique perspective from our fellow mayors and ambassadors. As you know, the us mayors have taken progressive positions on the importance of free trade over the years in terms of transpacific partnership, laws and Environmental Standards. Intellectual property rights, just to name a few. Great progress but obviously our work continues. Today we will talk about how important the trade of experts are to our cities. And those of mexico and canada. And how that relationship has prospered as we talked about the issues of nafta. Mexico and canada are among the countries largest trading partners and we will hear about that in a second. At first i thought i would share just for a minute, how important the border cities and how important trade is with cities like san diego. I will introduce my friend from tijuana in just a second. It is not about to cities, that strength is one region. And how we are working together. How we are creating good quality jobs on both sides of the border. How it is incredibly important to our economy. San diego alone, approximately 110,000 jobs that are in our city because of nafta, because of trade. Mexico is the number one trade partner and canada is the second. We are happy to have you here to get a unique perspective on issues that are facing us as cities and as mayors, particularly as negotiations are taking place this very week on nafta. It is not jobs, dollars and moving forward. Im delighted to help moderate the panel here today. First i would like to introduce and will go to some speakers. I would like everyone to speed for maybe about 3 to 5 minutes. I want to make sure we have time for questions and dialogue from our fellow mayors across the country for the hourlong session today. Select and choose the director of the adrian ash Latin American Center on the Atlantic Council. Jason will provide us a brief overview on the nafta process. To work with the Atlantic Council on past trade issues and we look forward to ongoing collaboration. Please help me welcome. Jason . Thank you very much. Its a real pleasure to be here with the conference of mayors. To be here with you and ambassadors. Thank you for having me here. I will talk about the process of negotiating or renegotiating nafta. It was oftentimes talked about come the likelihood of a new agreement and what that might look like and i am optimistic about that. And let us know if that process looks like and when negotiations stand. Before doing so is all of you know, nafta after nearly 25 years, is fundamentally part of the us economy. Every state in the country counts nafta countries as at least one of the trading partners. With a watereddown nafta will all lose strategically. Mayor faulconer mentioned important jobs in california along with 215,000 jobs depend on nafta and i as well, there mayor as well. Our 20,000 jobs in iowa. This is a big deal across the country. New numbers are 1. 8 million jobs being lost without nafta. Where are we not . Negotiators write our meeting in montrcal for the sixth round of talks. This is an incredibly pivotal round. Many of you know, negotiations started in august with a number of demands from rules of origin to dispute settlements to a sunset clause. They were tough and hard for a number of our nafta partners to swallow. Up until this round there has been progress but has been limited more to minor and technical issues of the accord. Not addressing many of the essential concerns of the Us Administration. And it has been relatively straightforward issues first and then other questions later. Weve had little to no progress on some Major Authority issues. But im hopeful seeing what is happening in montrcal this week that we are starting to see some of the progress on the more complex issues due to real compromise put out by our nafta partners. One of the things that we looked at as well, the us and canada and mexico also had a number of discussions prior to the us withdrawal of the transpacific partnership. And theres a technical issue on digital language. He has a ready been discussed as part of the discussions of the three countries that was prior to nafta discussions. I believe also that the Us Administration has heard from so many pivotal players. Including mayors and governors on the dire consequences of scrapping the deal and i think that makes withdrawal all the more unlikely. The operations to finish the agreement, agreements made outlined by march before the mexican president ial campaign at the end of that month. A lot needs to be achieved before then. After all, most freetrade agreements take on average, about 18 months to sign and 45 must implement from the first day of negotiations. It is a tall order but i think it is something that i will nafta partners can work on together. What happens next . Progress this week. If there is momentum then negotiators will likely meet again soon. If not we could see substantial time elapsed before the next round of negotiations. After all, two months passed before the end of the last round in this one. There are two other factors in play involving congress. First, trade Promotion Authority. Because the president the ability to negotiate a trade deal without having to worry about congressional amendments. That authority expires on july 31. It can be extended july 1, 2021. The president wants to do that he needs to submit to congress with reasons on why he is seeking an extension. Congress does not have to approve the extension but the house or senate can disapprove it. Without trade Promotion Authority the president s hands to negotiate a new deal of time. The second factor also to be aware of is that a final agreement takes time to move through congress. International trade Commission Report will be produced and in the house and wins committee the house and Ways Committee must also produce a report. The whole process does not conclude when the next Congress Takes power in 2019, we start again. Mayors, your critical. The legacy of trans experimental affects all of us. 35 from canada as a foreign market. It is local jobs that defend the functioning agreement. I think we have a great opportunity here to build an agreement that has greatly benefited the United States and the partners and to make it even better. We can set the standard for the future of trade but we really cannot afford to get it wrong. I look forward your questions. Thank you very much. Thank you for that overview and particularly on the timing. Next is my pleasure to introduce canadas ambassador to the United States. His experience includes work at the federal and levels before department of transport, industry and foreign affairs. The principal secretary of the premier of ontario from 2003 to 2005. An chairman of strategy from 2005 until his appointment. Ambassador, thank you for being not only had this morning but for hosting the mayors the other evening. It was a pleasure to have you. Is a pleasure to be here. I enjoyed last night. I was particularly pleased not to have some of the canadian mayors and some mayors from across canada but it was also that i was struck by the number of us mayors that came up to me and said, we are so pleased. We just had, we just enable it to create 300 because a Canadian Company invested in our city. We have a great relationship with canada. We trade actively. I think the stories around how successful a relationship has been is really important to get through right at this point. I will talk a little bit about what i see in the nafta negotiations and what we are trying to achieve is a country. And share that with you. That is, i think you know, nafta has been extraordinarily successful in terms of building competitiveness into north america on a global stage. Many of our companies, many in our regions have become way more competitive globally than they were 24 years ago. And i think we face an even larger challenge now in the next 10 or 15 years. Our competitors are getting more aggressive. Theyre getting tougher, people are investing in technology. We will have to keep up and you cannot do that by simply saying, over the last 24 years, winter other of us lost and the other one won. We have to be able to look at the nafta organization as an opportunity to grow all of our economies and make sure that this region is the most competitive region in the world. That will benefit all three of our countries. And so, when we looked at some of the proposals that were being made in terms of the renegotiation, we agreed with many of them. But they were some of them that we felt were not going to achieve the goal of growing all three countries and making the economy more competitive. And frankly, there were many us businesses and us regions who agreed that some of the proposals that were being made were counterproductive to being able to achieve that goal. [inaudible] we tried to point that out. We tried to make that point at the negotiations. And late last year, there was some discussion around whether we were right or wrong. But the point was made, if you think our proposals are not good enough, come back and tell us what you think will work. And so i think one of the important things is it is happening right now and it is happening not just in terms of canada but also mexico and the United States is that people have put their thinking caps on and said all right, i do make a good for all three of us . So on rules of origin or the sunset clause, dispute resolution. On all of the critical matters. It is not just a matter saying we do not agree with you. It is, all right, how do we make this works for all three of us . I think that is the process we are engaged in right now. It will not be easy because those are tough issues. There isnt universal acceptance of our position within canada. I am sure that they will have some pushback on some of the proposals that were put on the table from us interest. But i think it is very much in our interest to make sure that before the end of march, certainly in the next short while, we come to a resolution which gives communities they represent and the businesses throughout north america, the confidence that they can invest and grow the economy and create jobs. I think that is what our common goal is. And i know in every trade negotiation, there is always a bit of drama. We had a in tbd. We had a negotiations with european. Im sure there will be some drama before this is all resolved. Having said that i think increasingly, the perception and the reality is yes, nafta has some flaws in it. We need to purify the consequences of breaking nafta part would be bad for all three countries. I think that is the most Important Message that you can help us to convey. And i can assure you that we have been trying to put constructive proposals on the table and will continue to do so. I think given the relationship between canada United States and mexico will find a way to get this done. I was sent last night for those of you who were there, very few americans understand this but the United States exports more to canada than it does to china, japan and Great Britain combined. We are a Huge Customer of your goods. 36 billion surplus that you have a manufactured goods and all i know is that when i was in business, if i had a customer that dave, i tried to take care of him a little bit. And you are our biggest customer. We want to make sure that we work with you to achieve a good result for all of us. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Investor. Our next guest is mexicos ambassador to the United States. And he was named ambassador to mexico in january 2017. With a career in the mexican government. He is in the areas of trade finance, diplomacy and National Security under for president. Mr. Investor, welcome. And a half to nafta is more about in a sense about not much about how much do we trade among ourselves, which as ambassador macnaughton was saying, its a significantly big figure but about how to produce together and remain competitive to compete with all the region over the world. The second reason is there are in the neighborhood of 14 million to 15 million jobs in the u. S. Directly linked to nafta, not unlike in canada and mexico. Sew were all concerned about meter more and better jobs in north america but precisely by improving nafta we can achieve that. The other reason is that over the course of the last 25 years, nafta has become really the backbone in my view, of the overall north american relationship, and whatever happens with nafta is going to pretty much set the tone beyond the economic consequences of the north american region and the north american relation, whether its on security, defense, many other areas of cooperation in which in fact we have been working very well as north American Partners over the last 25 years. Finally, 80 of the global gdp is precisely generated in cities like the ones you lead and represent all of you majors, and whatever in the past days heard the expression on the part of several majors saying we are really representing where the rubber hits the road, and its true. You have to deal with the front line in dealing with citizens and residents and communities, and over the course of the past two days ive heard it from all of the majors, how important the trading relationship among our countries is for the wellbeing of your communities. So, i think theres very good reasons why we need to get, yes, improved nafta, updated. Modernize it but make sure we get it right and keep it going. As you know there are negotiations right now taking place in canada so i wont go into very much detail right now. Ill leave that to the experts. But i think two things where are we and what is the for seeable future . I will just mention briefly two comments. The first one is over the course of the last year, on the three countries the governments heard loud voices from governors, mayors, the private sector, academia, and all sorts of institutions, peoples, that have come out and say you have to get nafta right and nafta going and that has been very positive. It certainly is an Important Message for the three federal governments that has changed the tone over the conversation over the last year. Right . Private sector, wherever you talk, everywhere you go, will mostly tell in my experience, governments, please get nafta right, please keep nafta going. So thats something very important. Finally, i would say theres a lot of speculation. I think that ambassador mcnaughton is right on point. We do believe we should try to get an agreement on the post important issues as soon as possible because there is a lot of investment and a lot of Economic Activity that is really waiting to see what happens, and it is in the best interests of the three countries to try to get that agreement as soon as possible. My own sense is that a year ago, the base scenario is one in which unfortunately we will no longer have nafta, it and was only that was perhaps the likely scenario and only probable that we could keep and update and modernize nafta. For many good ropes that has changed over the last year and probably the best scenario is one in which we can get an agreement. Its not going to be perfect. The three cider going to have to reach compromise on different areas but we will get an agreement in the end that is beneficial for the three countries. Although its still probable we could not, and, therefore, meetings like this and exercises like this are extremely important to keep educating federal governments about why we should keep nafta going. Thank you, mayor. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Ambassador. Next id like to introduce my friend and partner in our cause, champion trade, mayor juan man well, san diego and tijuana are linked way common economy, common environment, and a shared community. We have a very powerful story to tell. We like to talk about it. And our strength and our friendship in the region and here in our nations capital. So please hundred me welcome the tijuana mayor. I appreciate the invitation for this to be here, that u. S. Conference of mayors. Thank you very much. Were here to talk about good news. We have good news. We have we can prove it. We have material proof of what the nafta trade has been for our region, and we have to see ourselves as a big region. A huge region, not as three Different Countries looking for their own good, for their own wealth. Were against an economy, a worldwide economy, and when i say against, its not in a its just to give it a name. We have to deal with ourselves. Do have problems, yes, but we can modernize it, modernize nafta, do the best for it. Our ambassador, the honorable guitierrez, said we can improve it. We shouldnt discard nafta, saying its not working. It is workingment we have jobs. We have lets see. Me english i kind of get stuck with certain words. Try do my best. Its competitiveness. If were competitive we can do best things better things. Its not a matter of losing jobs. Its a matter of doing things right, and nevada, since 1994, the nafta trade is the commercial length, what we have to do. For instance, in san diego, tijuana, with mark faulconr leading the way, we sign a memorandum of understanding to work on the good issues that can bring good things to our people. First all of issue its the people we have to look out for. Do have a legal border been there since years, we do have a small barrier, physical barrier. Its been there for a long time. I can recall when it wasnt a barrier properly. It was barbed wire and people would just jump and its been there. But we can do good things if were willing to if theres a will, theres a way. The thing is we have to find that way and we might have discussions, we might not agree on everything, but we have to agree on one thing, its good thing good things happen with nafta. Ill leave it there and ill my friend, mayor, ill talk more about this and were on our way, good way to two doings, and if we can get out the message that were doing things right, we can do things right or keep on doing good things for our people. Thats the main issue. The people. Our people. Your people. Your constituents, your what do we represent . We represent the people. We have to deal with this issue in behalf of the people we represent. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, mayor. Keeping with our flavor of international mayors, next id like to introduce the mayor of edmonton and chair of the federation of canadian municipalities. Big city mayors quarterbacks, don iverson. I appreciate everything you do. Thank you, mayor, and ambassadors, fellow mayors, panelists, its a privilege to be with you today and i want to express gratitude on behalf of the canadian delegation to for the warm welcome we received. My six colleagues from across canada who have been able to join you for the u. S. Conference of mayors meetings here, its when we sit down like this, were reminded how much we have in common as leaders of communities. And particular on so many issues that cross borders, whether its clean air or trade or human rights, we have common agendas, but trade in particular is top of mine for all of us these days, given the negotiations ongoing, and its not just top of mind for mayors. Its top of mind for our investors, our business communities at home, and people who are concerned about their jobs. With the kind of uncertainty that is around us. Which is challenging for business. Our region trades 9 billion and were the furthest canadian city from the border. My colleagues from cities like wind sore, and gas steno, closer to the border who trade in quebecs case in wood and paper products, trade in agriculture from saskatchewan, and for us, its energy and professional services and engineering and construction. We all see dire consequences for our community and dire consequences or our nations if we decouple a trade relationship which has been transformative in support growth and employment in each of our three countries, and particularly pleased with the leadership that mayor faulconer and mayor gastalone have shown our interlinked cities and metropolitan regions can become in spite of borders and we know as mayor evidences we play for keeps in our local contexts you can succeed for a short time but the zero johns come together and think at the metropolitan scale and things in borderless ways and trade openly, even just within their local environs, the are the cities that thrive and succeed and grow and the cities where people are going to have good quality jobs over time, and so we are used to thinking in borderless wayns our own communities in terms of integrated approaches to trade and Service Delivery and you name it. As a continent we have been good at that for a long, long time, and we have gotten better at it in the last 25 years. Its an agreement that could use updating. Lord knows our professional services and engineering folks and the google deep mind lab that just opened in edmonton could use updates to the Labor Mobility agreement. So we need to refresh our agreement. But the risk of losing it affects up to 9 million jobs in the United States connected to trade with canada two 2 million jobs on our side of the border. So that risk creates palpable uncertainty in our communities. But i am given hope by the words from our ambassadors and the knowledge that we have solidarity with u. S. Conference of mayors and with leaders like mayor faulconer with my colleagues from canada were united in articulating a strong case for free and fair trade to continue and to grow between our three nations, because we have been an example to the world in this. The world is emulating what were doing. Newer trade agreements have exceeded what we historically have done and its time to rise to that opportunity and enhance our very special relationships, the three countries that share this continent. We cant break up. Thats geographically impossible. So were in this for the long haul, and were all going to make out better if we can build prosperity the way we have for the last 25 years for a long time to come. So we appreciate the chance to be part of this conversation. So many jobs and so much prosperity and so much innovation and so much Human Potential depends on us getting this right that we really cannot jeopardize it with any incendiary or risky discussions. Its going to be hard work no doubt, but as mayors, i think were all united up and down the continent that theres too much on the line to get it wrong. Thank you. Thank you very much. Ill open it up to fellow mayors. Begin with mayor giles. Thank you, mayor faulconer. Im their join the core us and say there is amp evidence in mesa, arizona, that cities can take the lead on this issue in spite of negative rhetoric at the national level. We have a story in mesa ill share very quickly. We have former air force base in our community that has three very large runways and a lot of developable property around it and we have been struggling to convert that into a commercial airport over the last couple of decaded am couple years ago we started having conversations with a Wonderful Company in mexico about doing more mexican trade out of our local airport. That resulted just a few months ago in the signing of an agreement between u. S. Customs official and mexican custom officials to locate mexican officialed at our airport. That if will allow to us become the hub for ecommerce in mexico and in the United States and actually into all of lattin america. So now that the strong middle class economy in mexico that is striving to be part of ecommerce and enjoy the opportunity to shop in your pajamas at night and have a nice person hand you Cardboard Box the next morning with what you just bought, will be open to the mexican economy. That is a huge boon to my city and local economy, and so im here to tell you that nafta is not an international issue. It is a local issue. It has extreme impacts on the mesa, arizona, economy. During the winter month is think don sees a noticeable decline in his population because half of the people from edmonton move to mesa, arizona. If i had dollar forefeel i sang holiday ocanada by at all of the events go to, my budget would be doing very well, even if that are were canadian dollars, don. So, again i think its important that the mayor friday the room realize that we cant let the federal government screw this up. Our local economies are too important. We need to be loud and strong in supporting and updated nafta because it is very important to my economy. So, gentleman, thank you for what youre doing. We look forward to work very, very closely with you as local officials. Thank you, mayor. Now to the mayor from des moines. Thank you, mayor, and like mayor giles, i think all mayors across the United States understand and believe in the importance of trade agreements and especially trying in this case to extend and improve it. Exporters and Business People across the country and in iowa who are involved in grain and corn and soybeans and maybe even in manufacturing little implements like john deere dot they can expert around the world, they need some other tools and let me quickly briefly articulate a concern i think that mayors and others around the United States have. The United States conference of mayors has long been a supporter of the exportimport bang of the United States. We were aggressive propoint proponents for the renewal of the banks charter which after much, discussion debate and anxious was finally approved well over two years ago. On several ocases we have had the banks president and Senior Officers address our body on the key role and issues that bank works in and plays . Expanding u. S. Exports to global markets. As many of you know, the bank has looked a quorum on the board for it would some time due to vacancies. We have encouraged congresses to move the nominations of four very qualified people who bailiff in the mission of the back. Those nominations happen now been cleared by the Senate Banking committee, and are waiting senate floor consideration. We did express, however, strong reservations about the nomination of the chairman of the bank, as did many businesses across the country and groups that represent them. That nomination was defeated within the banking committee. The key now is to have the nominees processed to the floor, at least one senator, who opposes the bank, has put a hold on those nominations, a task force will monitor these developments and keep everyone informed. We hope the administration will name a new nominee to head the bank. Finally, let me say we are working very closely with leadership in the usem task force on infrastructure to make sure that the needs of ports are adequately addressed as Congress Begins consideration on the infrastructure package. Mayor, thank you. Thank you. We have a few more minutes for our discussion this morning, so thank you all. Let me open it up to the floor from my fellow mayors, please introduce yourself for the audience and ask your question. Good morning. Thank you, mayor, im jim, the mayor of dead diana, maryland, a suburb of minneapolis. The state of minnesota and canada have a longstanding relationship. Its our biggest trading partner. Were Firm Believers in the benefits of nafta. If its going to be refreshed you may think is this guy sounds more line a canadian than a minnesotan, its because i grew up within 100 miles of the canadian bearder in nod so you may be comfortable over there, listening to me talk to you. We want to help but if this agreement needs refreshing, which you talked about, if there are points we need know about and i had a conversation with one of your staff people last night, marvin hildebrand, let us know how we can help. We can write letters to our newspapers and our metropolitan areas, we can happen in any other way you want us to help. Certainly for us that are located north, the mother natural alignment is canada, the better pitch is with canada but for those in other parts of the country, and even for us, we have a strong connection with mexico, with a lot of strong hispanic population in the state of minnesota. So, let us know what we need to talk about with more specificity. Thank you. Im sensing a theme here, ladies and gentlemen. Its great. Mayor go ahead. Thank you. Kerri davis from the si of san bernardino. I have one question that the ambassadors could each address it. We see thearch stumbling block or issue that separates and has the largest gap that needs to be overcome. Im going to borrow from our trade minister, and assessment that he made recently on the negotiations, because i think it reflects fairly well where we and are what are the obstacles. Theres a good deal, maybe up to 40 of the issues that were talking about, or the negotiating teams of talking about, which really have to do with updating and improving the agreement and where theres really consensus on the part of the three countries. Those things are, for example, taking into account that we now have ecommerce, which is significantly is significantly bigger than the one we had 25 years ago when the agreement was made. So we need to update the agreement nor fact we now have hecommerce. We need to update the agreement for the flak have been reform in mexico for the energy sect and telecommunication. Things like that which are not controversial, they do involve a lot of work, but theres broad concept sunday, i would say, on that consensus, i would say, on that. And even the trade negotiation have spoke to the effect that 40 of that theres consensus. And theres a series of topics about other set which have to do with improving labor standards, Environmental Standards. Those are things that we are working on, certainly in mexico, and that should probably not derail in any way the negotiations. We need were all in favor with a broad idea of including better labor standards and Environmental Standards because we have learned over the last 25 years. I wouldnt say that theres an agreement but its likely those thing that were part of separate agreements when nafta was signed are now going to be formally introduced in he trade agreement and they will have a little bit more teeth, if if may say so. Theres another discussion going on that has to do with the fact that theres concern here about the United States trade deficit, special my in this case with mexico. What we have said is we dont share the view that the trade deficit is really the best way to measure an agreement success, and there are a series of related issues that are being seen as a way to address the deficit, whether its rules of origin, or the idea about a National Content on specific industries, where we still have not reached agreement. As ambassador mcnaughton has said, certainly mexico and canada are putting up constructive proposals to try to reach a compromise on that regard. Finally, there is, for example, an issue with a sunset clause that was discussed which would mean that the agreement automatically ends every five years unless the executive branch do something. We dont think thats a good idea. We think that willian rate a lot of private un instant certainty in the private sector that investments require a longer term horizon. Ill stop there and give ambassador mcnaughton a chance to speak but i think thats where we are, and there are some important things in which we have great consensus and the differences are public, open, known, but the three parts i think are fully engaged in addressing them and trying to find common ground. I think one challenge mentioned earlier that normally trade agreements take 18 months to two years to even negotiate and then four or five years to implement. We have been in a situation where we have all felt the pressure for a variety of reasons to try and get this done in a more compacted time and that puts pressure on everybody. More difficult. The other thing is that i think historically i blame canada and our country as muching a anybody else is that the relationship has worked so well, we have just taken it for granted. Anybody who has got a complaint against nafta or some trade issue has raised it with the political level, particularly here in washington, and the perception developed was that this was all bad news, and i think one of the things that happened curtsy of many of you courtesy of the business community, the governors and others, is that people started to speak up and say, well, actually no, theres some good things, too. A lot of good things. So thats balanced the political discussion in this country in our country and in mexico, and i think it gives all of the politics and all of the negotiators some more permission to try to fix the bad things but maintain the good things. And so i am optimistic, i really am. One of the other things just would like to add to this i think its the point made earlier and that is that our relationship with the United States and mexico goes well beyond trade. We are working together on security, were working together on defense. We had a meeting the other day talking about our cooperation on things like opioids, which is a curse that is striking all of us. We can those relationships are extraordinarily important. They go outside of nafta, but without nafta, it makes it more difficult to have those conversations. So i think Everybody Knows we need to make this work and were working hard to make it work. You may have time for one more. We time for one or two more before we break. Im Tony Martinez and i am the mayor of brownsville, texas, and so where, mayor, youre at one end of the border from mexico, im at the other end and we have a good ambassador, good to visit with him. I think i just wanted to kind of follow up on what our canadian ambassador is talking about, and i think one of the things we are missing the most is this relationship. I think thats the operative word women dont spend enough time with each other. I happen to be just like the mayor from tijuana and the ooh day something shead whats the mayor in matamoros. I dont know his full name. And it escaped me and thats just a senior moment, tom so dont hold me back. Ive been around here for almost seven years, being at these conferences and this is a wonderful venue to be able to discuss these things, and i cant thank you enough for your hosting us yesterday, and i cant thank you, ambassador because what happens if we dont have a dialogue, we wont have anything happening, and so i encourage everybody, like from whether youre from iowa or from minnesota, wherever you are, and its not so much about how many letters you can send to coverage its what we do together, here, because what happens is when they see us, i mean, in my part of the country, we dont see ourselves as the people from brownsville, we see ourself were all just one people, and so i encourage that kind of conversation. That kind of dialogue because i think thats the ultimately the most important part because if you dont have the passion we all have for being mayors and helping and resolving things, we wont get our message across. I just wanted to mention we had a meeting thank you so much, ambassador, for having us inviting to us canada last night. We met before and discussed some the possibility of some trilateral meetings with mexico mayors, canadian mayors and u. S. A. Mayors as a followup on this. Some of you may recall scott smith, the mayor of mesa, when he was our president , we were involved in those kinds of things. So, i just want you to know on behalf of the organization, we want to support you to follow up on to support regional meetings, and just whatever we can define with the associations. We have very strong memorandum of understanding with the mexico mayors. We were there in mexico city with mayor scott so on behalf of the organization, we appreciate this dialogue and want it to continue and be supportive as possible. Thank you. And well go to our last question. Just to fop up on that. When were working together, on a bipartisan basis, yes this, is an International Agreement but is a think you heard that discussion today, the effects on all of our cities is very real. It is where the rubber meets the road. Were talking got good quality jobs, relationships and strengthening relationships. Yes, mayor go ahead. I want to thank you for your leadership in front of this task force, mayor. And both ambassadors for being here today, taking time out of your schedule, as well as the mayor of edmonton and tijuana, to ambassador mcnaughtons comment there hasnt been a good discussion about all the good things that have come out of the trade agreements. The good story is a mentioned lanight at the embassy, is that a Canadian Firm is moving to our community and repurposing an Old Industrial site. Brings hundreds of new jobs, goodpaying jobs, average of 75,000 with full medical benefits. In this day and age, when a company is offering full medical benefits thats a home run that its knocked out of the park and that wouldnt have happened unless there was investment in Cooperation Amongst cities and towns and corporations on beat sides of the geographical boundaries of our country and thats the message that needs get through. Were working partners with corporations on both side hope to Boundary Line and that message needs to get out because there are jobs out there people need be employed on both sides and all three countries and that is a great story to tell. Matter of fact, mr. Ambassador, when theyre ready for the Ribbon Cutting youll probably get an invitation to come up to piscataway for the Ribbon Cutting. Ill be there. Aim the mayor for at the city of santa cruz, california, and i want to thank you for having this discussion april. Side from the clear economic negative Economic Impacts of not having nafta, i know in our city were 65,000, we have had Canadian Companies establish businesses there, and we have a lot of trade with mexico not only in manufacturing but in also agriculture. What are some things cities can do to strengthen the cultural bonds . I do feel that having that Human Connection with our counterparts in the north and south, makes a tremendous difference in terms of how the public sees free trade and i wonder what are the things you can recommend . Well, you know, last night the mayor of washington was there. She had just come back from a trip to toronto with the governor of virginia and of maryland. I have been don and i talked about this last night talking about trying to develop more of those kind of relationships where you bring, whether it be a trade or cultural mission, up in exchange we used to have used to be a big thing where we had twin cities and as a teenager, i grew up in a steel city, hamilton, ontario, and we hat the games every year we would go to flint, michigan, and compete against the americans as and they would come to hamilton next year. We talked about the relationship part. Those things increasingly importantment everybody gets busy and i just think we need do more of that. Think the other thing id just like to say and that is that so often you think that your voice doesnt matter, that you got to just take care of your backyard and what you say about national or International Event doesnt matter. It does, and its really important for all of to us speak up in the next several months and its not just the shortterm thing. Its a longterm thing. We are neighbors, friends, allies, partners. We need to reinforce that in an ongoing basis, and i think thats not just about trade. Its about human relationships that are really important to foster. Thank you. Mayors, we have to conclude on that note. I want to that thank both ambassadors for taking their time today and their remarks, please join me. [applause] lastly on the timing, how important it is from the local voices as mayors to continue to be heard on that bipartisan basis next several months are critical. Thank you for coming to todays session. With that well stand adjourned. [inaudible conversations] the president of the United States. [applause] tuesday night, President Donald Trump gives his first date of the again address to congress and the nation. Join us on cspan for a preview of the evening started at 8 00 p. M. Eastern. On the state of the union speech 00 p. M. Eastern. Following this page the democratic response from congressman joe kennedy. We will also hear your reaction congress. S of President Trump state of the Union Address tuesday night live on cspan. Listen live on the free cspan radio app, available life or on demand on your desktop, phone, or tablet. On monday a preview of the state of the again address. Including white house counselor kellyanne conway. Live coverage hosted by the Washington Post starts at 6 30 p. M. Eastern on cspan three. Next, a hearing on Emergency Preparedness for Public Health threats to medical professionals and the Security Experts testified before the senate, health, education, Prevention Committee about the flu outbreak, public spending, and reauthorizing a pandemic preparedness bill. This is two hours