Trade

Mulvaney rejects Democratic calls to renegotiate updated NAFTA

by Niv Elis - 04/30/19 2:05 PM ET

White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Tuesday rejected Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) demand to renegotiate elements of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, an update of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

If Pelosi does not bring the deal in its current form to the floor for a vote, Mulvaney said, the Trump administration would be more likely to leave things as they are or withdraw from NAFTA.

{mosads}“You could stay status quo … which is just NAFTA. You could withdraw from NAFTA, which the president has talked about many, many times. Or you could go all the way back to the beginning and renegotiate from scratch with the Canadians, the Mexicans,” Mulvaney said at the Milken Institute Global Conference in California.

“I think it’s fair to say that last thing is probably unlikely to happen,” he added. “Your real two plan Bs are either NAFTA or withdraw from NAFTA.”

Pelosi has said the updated version needs stronger enforcement mechanisms, as well as environmental and labor protections, before she will consider advancing the bill in the House.

She has also said that Mexico would need to pass a new labor law strengthening unions.

Mulvaney’s remarks came on the same day that President Trump met with top congressional Democrats to discuss a potential infrastructure deal. During the meeting, Trump pressed lawmakers several times to take action on the revised trade deal, according to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Mexico’s Senate approved the law on Monday; the lower chamber passed the measure earlier this month.

Tags Chuck Schumer Donald Trump Mick Mulvaney NAFTA renegotiation Nancy Pelosi New NAFTA