The nomination vote of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)-designate Robert Lighthizer will take place Thursday by the Senate Finance panel, despite lack of resolution to controversy over a waiver that some lawmakers believe he needs before he can be confirmed.“In order to ensure congressional input on trade agreements that protect intellectual property rights, benefit American families and businesses and promote US global competitiveness, we must have a USTR in place," Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said in a statement. "Mr. Lighthizer’s nomination has been subject to unprecedented delay and unrelated demands for far too long."The panel held a confirmation hearing for Lighthizer on March 14, but progress has stalled as some Finance Committee Democrats, who are generally supportive of Lighthizer, argue that a waiver requiring bicameral approval is necessary under the Trade Act of 1974 because of Lighthizer's past work as a trade attorney representing foreign governments. The Trump administration put forward a previously drafted legal opinion that argues the waiver requirement is unconstitutional.Democrats are also demanding the waiver be used as a vehicle to renew a benefits program for miners that sunsets when a short-term spending measure expires later this month."It is my hope my Democratic colleagues remove their unrelated demands and work with us to advance his nomination through the committee for full Senate consideration," Hatch said.***Mexico, Canada Urge Trilateral NAFTA Renegotiation Talks
Work between Mexican and Canadian trade representatives continues as they seek to ensure that any trade discussions with the US over renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will be trilateral, even as the U.S. hedges on whether it will back a bilateral approach.The private sector in both Mexico and Canada have been much more active in building a joint front interested in a continued trilateral approach to trade, according to Moises Kalach, who leads the international negotiation team for Mexico's Business Advisory Council. "We have very close ties with the Canadian private sector and we have been very clear that we are building a strategy together on NAFTA and we will continue to do so,” Kalach told Bloomberg BNA in an exclusive interview.“We have heard very good news from Canada — they have a long-term view on Mexico and they like investing in Mexico. They think Mexico has made the right decisions in its recent reforms.” Members of the Mexican and Canadian business sector met in Monterrey, Mexico, and plan to have another meeting in the summer to further plan a joint strategy.The U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) office released a draft notice of its trade objectives for renegotiation of NAFTA on March 30. The notice indicated ambivalence over whether USTR is planning to include both Canada and Mexico, noting that “it is premature to say what final form the negotiated outcome will take.”
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