Sherrod Brown: Trump's new NAFTA will face strong Dem opposition

[Eugene]

Source: The Hill

Sherrod Brown: Trump’s new NAFTA will face strong Dem opposition

BY ALEXANDER BOLTON - 02/12/19 11:45 AM EST

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), a likely presidential candidate in 2020 and a leading voice on trade issues, predicted Tuesday that President Trump’s update of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will stall in Congress.

“I don’t see evidence that it’s going to pass,” Brown said at a breakfast with reporters sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. “I don’t now what Republicans are going to do. I know that there are few Democrats in the Senate that support it.”

Brown says he can’t support the deal unless its labor protection provisions are substantially strengthened.

The new accord is supposed to fulfill President Trump’s 2016 campaign promise to replace NAFTA with a better trade deal.

Brown calls it NAFTA 1.6, alluding to what he sees as the many similarities between the landmark 1994 North American treaty and Trump’s trade agreement.

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Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/429599-sherrod-brown-trumps-new-nafta-will-face-strong-dem-opposition

[BootinUp]

1. Glad he is speaking up on this. Nt

[MH1]

2. Some specifics in this other article:

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/national-govt--politics/ohio-lawmakers-react-trade-deal-brown-wants-changes/lob2D3F5Ywvp8DyYZMSMeO/

In talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Brown has suggested two changes he believes would improve chances of Congress approving the agreement, according to sources who asked not to be identified.

One change would require that U.S. companies which import goods from Mexico would have to certify that those products — under penalty of perjury — were made in compliance with the tougher labor and environmental standards of the new pact.

The other proposed revision would permit U.S. officials to inspect Mexican production facilities to determine if they were violating the labor and environmental standards. If they were in violation, they would lose the tariff reduction.

Brown has told the administration these changes would reduce incentives for U.S. companies to move production to Mexico.