The Office of U.S. Trade Representative is holding three days of marathon public hearings this week on the negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday hearings are taking place at the U.S. International Trade Commission with more than 130 witnesses appearing, including representatives of the AFL-CIO, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the North American Meat Institute, U.S. Dairy Export Council, National Association of Manufacturers, among many other prominent trade groups and companies.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is expected to publish more detailed NAFTA negotiating objectives around mid July and the actual NAFTA renegotiations are expected to begin on August 16.
The public hearings follow USTR’s 90-day notification to Congress on May 18 regarding intent to renegotiate NAFTA as well as USTR’s Federal Register notice published on May 23 requesting public comment. In the month after U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer’s mid-May notification to Congress that the pact would be renegotiated, his agency received more than 12,000 public comments on the matter, forcing USTR to extend the comment period.
The intense interest in NAFTA has been spurred by President Trump’s harsh criticism of the sweeping pact as “a disaster,” and his April threat to pull out abruptly and completely. That has sparked a robust defense from NAFTA advocates who had long taken the agreement for granted, and raises hopes for critics looking to fix what they see as longstanding problems.
The variety of speakers shows the widespread interest in the pact, with a long list of industries, unions and activists looking to protect what they have gained since NAFTA was put in place, or to make up for what they have lost, or to take advantage of the opportunity for change.
Representatives of the agriculture sector participating in the hearings included tomato, strawberry, wheat, cotton, dairy, and corn growers, as well as three different beef trade groups. Those speakers were joined by the Pet Food Institute, The Grocery Manufacturers Association, and the National Renderers Association, among others.
