Thread: Give Trump his due on trade victory with Mexico, Canada

Trump Rally in Rochester, Minnesota tonight, starts at 6:30 pm CDT, 7:30 EDT.

I would expect the new USMCA will be welcome news to the farmers and manufacturing workers of Minnesota and a big topic tonight. We'll see how it goes!! I hope it goes well, because Trump almost won Minnesota in 2016 which means a lot of our fellow citizens who live in Minnesota want the same things we all do for our country, workers and borders.

A lot has been accomplished, but still much more to do!!

WE NEED A RED WAVE!! VOTE ALL RED TO GET R DONE!!! VOTE REPUBLICAN IN 2018!!!

So Trump caves again and continues to allow Mexican and Canadian worker visas as part of the new NAFTA deal. As I've read in several places, guest worker programs should not be part of any trade agreement. However, it is obvious that Trump wanted a deal so bad that he was willing to cave on his initial position of doing away with the guest worker visas.

Originally Posted by MW

So Trump caves again and continues to allow Mexican and Canadian worker visas as part of the new NAFTA deal. As I've read in several places, guest worker programs should not be part of any trade agreement. However, it is obvious that Trump wanted a deal so bad that he was willing to cave on his initial position of doing away with the guest worker visas.

It's not within Presidential trade authority under US law to do that anymore due to a law passed by Congress in 2015, authored by Steve King and others, prohibiting it under trade negotiation authority. I posted the article for you all that explains it. Steve King sent a letter to Robert Lighthizer in April of this year putting him on notice that he can't include immigration solutions in a trade agreement negotiation, only Congress can write the laws pertaining to immigration.

9/12/18

Trump Plans to Pay Mexico $20 MILLION to Deport Illegal Aliens There

Originally Posted by Judy

It's not within Presidential trade authority under US law to do that anymore due to a law passed by Congress in 2015, authored by Steve King and others, prohibiting it under trade negotiation authority. I posted the article for you all that explains it. Steve King sent a letter to Robert Lighthizer in April of this year putting him on notice that he can't include immigration solutions in a trade agreement negotiation, only Congress can write the laws pertaining to immigration.

I read all the articles. I'm not talking about doing more, I'm talking about doing less! Even Steve King who authored the law you're talking about expected (or wanted) trump to strip the guest worker program from any new trade negotiations and he should have! Foreign guest worker programs are immigration programs and have no place in trade agreements .... Rep. King is correct. Too bad Lighthizer convinced Trump to act against his better judgement on this. The jobs these guest workers are taking should be going to Americans!

Originally Posted by MW

I read all the articles. I'm not talking about doing more, I'm talking about doing less! Even Steve King who authored the law you're talking about expected (or wanted) trump to strip the guest worker program from any new trade negotiations and he should have! Foreign guest worker programs are immigration programs and have no place in trade agreements .... Rep. King is correct. Too bad Lighthizer convinced Trump to act against his better judgement on this. The jobs these guest workers are taking should be going to Americans!

Trump wanted to reduce them, Canada wanted to increase them, this negotiation was going on in April and Steve King got involved and pointed out that due to his bill, you can't do either one, Congress has to do that since 2015 when the bill passed. The trade representative and the President can't do it up or down any more, not since 2015.

They may have been able to strip it out entirely, but I'm not sure there would have been Congressional support for that or agreement from the other two countries, so they just left it status quo and Congress can deal with it later, separately from the trade agreement which is apparently what King, Congress and the other organizations we work with want to do.

Trump wanted to tell Canada to take a hike, but Congress was saying they wouldn't approve the US-Mexico agreement, they wanted Canada in the deal, and you need Congress to approve any new deal.

NAFTA Is Out, USMCA Is In: New US Immigration Policy
USMCA

As many people know the Trump administration has been vocal about how much they hated the NAFTA deal. The United States came up with a completely new deal, instead of re-working NAFTA. Just before the midnight deadline on Sunday, the US and Canada agreed on a deal for USMCA or United States Mexico Canada Agreement. All three countries have been said to be celebrating this new deal that calls for equality in trade for each country. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto called it a “win-win-win agreement.” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said North American trade had been “preserved and modernized for the 21st century.” US President Trump also said “the most important trade deal we’ve ever made, by far” about his own deal.

What Is USMCA and How Is It Different From NAFTA?

Although USMCA is a completely new name, it isn’t exactly a “brand new deal” as President Trump has described it. Vox online said this about the deal: “It’s basically NAFTA 2.0: an updated version of the nearly 25-year-old trade agreement, with major changes on cars and new policies on labor and environmental standards, intellectual property protections, and some digital trade provisions.”

There are several major changes in the USMCA compared to NAFTA. (the following data has been provided by USA Today)

Higher pay for auto workers

Starting in 2020, 30 percent of vehicle production must be done by workers earning an average production wage of at least $16 per hour. That’s about three times the pay of the average Mexican autoworker. In 2023, the production percentage rises to 40 percent. This could result in job production moving from Mexico to the U.S.

More auto parts from member nations

Automakers can qualify for zero tariffs if 75 percent of their vehicles’ components are manufactured in the U.S., Canada or Mexico, up from 62.5 percent under NAFTA. Seventy percent of the steel and aluminum used in vehicles will have to come from the U.S., Canada or Mexico.

Canada loosens dairy restrictions

Canada will ease restrictions on its dairy market and allow American farmers to export about $560 million worth of dairy products. That’s about 3.5 percent of Canada’s total $16 billion dairy industry.

Dispute process unchanged

Trade disputes will continue to be decided by a panel of representatives from all three nations.

Tariffs stay in place

U.S. tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum from Canada and Mexico remain in effect as negotiations continue. If the U.S. imposes new auto tariffs, Mexico and Canada would be able to export up to 2.6 million passenger vehicles to the U.S. annually without any tariffs. Exports above that amount could be subject to tariffs. Pickup trucks built in both countries would be completely exempt from the tariffs.

Intellectual property rules stiffened

For first time, law enforcement officials can stop suspected counterfeit or pirated goods in any of the three countries. Harsher punishments will be added for pirated movies online and civil/criminal penalties for satellite/cable signal theft. The pact includes a slew of new rules for “strong and effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.”

SOURCE Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; Associated Press; Reuters; Bloomberg; USA TODAY research

When Will USMCA Be in Affect?

The three leaders are preparing to sign the USMCA before the end of November — possibly at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. But all three countries must still ratify it. In the meantime, debates in Canada, Mexico, and the US will play out over the following months about whether these revisions are wins or losses — and whether this new trade agreement is a real improvement on what came before.

Visas Under USMCA

It doesn’t look like the new USMCA trade deal will change anything with regard to the TN visas. Please see below from the CBC and Toronto Star, respectively:

CBC:

“No new professionals visas. Another goal of Canada’s negotiating team was to modernize the list of professions currently eligible for the special class of temporary work visas created under NAFTA known as TN (Trade National) visas. It appears that list isn’t changing and no commitments have been made to increase the number of TN visas issued by the United States, or to otherwise make it easier for citizens to work across North American borders.”

Toronto Star:

“There were no changes related to “TN” visas for professional workers. Canada had wanted the list of eligible occupations expanded, while the U.S. had wanted it reduced; they settled on leaving it the same.”

This is great news for those who want to work between country lines such as businessmen and businesswomen, entrepreneurs, truck drivers, salesmen, bloggers, travelers, etc. TN Visas through NAFTA has been extremely popular which should continue its popularity through the USMCA.

https://www.visaplace.com/blog-immig...gorized/usmca/

This visa program for Canadian professionals was on Trump’s hit list. Not anymore.

By Franco Ordoñez

October 01, 2018 05:22 PM
Updated October 01, 2018 05:47 PM

WASHINGTON Despite vows to slash the program, the Trump administration on Monday agreed to allow tens of thousands — if not hundreds of thousands — of Canadian engineers, doctors and nurses who come to work in the United States to keep their visas as part of the new U.S. trade pact with Canada and Mexico, according to senior administration officials.

It’s a bit of a political concession for President Donald Trump, whose administration called for limits on visa renewals of TN (Treaty NAFTA) visas as part of his “Buy American, Hire American” initiative. While the agreement didn’t include such limits, the administration said Canada was unsuccessful in expanding the controversial program.

“On the question of visas, we have retained existing NAFTA language on that, but not gone beyond it,” said a senior administration official.

The agreement reached Sunday with Canada follows a similar deal reached earlier with Mexico officials, who told McClatchy that TN visas would remain apart of the revised agreement.

Trump has long criticized NAFTA as perhaps the worst deal ever made, often threatening to rip it up and upend billions of dollars of cross-border trade. That stance put some congressional Republicans in a tough position heading into the midterms, since they represent districts with significant stakes in commerce with Canada and Mexico.

On Monday, the White House held a Rose Garden ceremony that sought to portray the newly minted United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, or USMCA, as a “promise delivered.”

Trump described the new agreement as fair to all sides and puts the United States in a position of strength that its never been in before.

“The agreement will govern nearly $1.2 trillion in trade, which makes it the biggest trade deal in United States history,” Trump said.

Less than 25,000 TN visas were issued for Mexicans in 2016, including about 10,000 for family members of the TN visa recipients, according to State Department records.

No statistics are kept for Canadians, who have a lower bar to obtain such visas and can seek them when they arrive at the border.

While keeping the visas is a win for the Canadian officials, it’s also a bit of a political loss for them as well as some high tech workers and union leaders sought to modernize the agreement to include more workers.

“If you’re on the list, its survival is very good news for you,” said Eric Miller, a trade consultant who has worked for the Canadian government and continues to advise them on the negotiations. ”If you were not on the list and hoping to get on the list, today is a big disappointment.”

It’s also a setback for groups like NumbersUSA and Federation for American Immigration Reform that have been lobbying the Trump administration to cut the number of visas.

Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports limiting the number of TN visas, saw keeping TN visas intact as “missed an opportunity.”

While the pact does not expand the scope of the program, the bad news, she said, is the administration failed to “ditch this unnecessary guest worker program that for too many years has flown under the radar.”

“The government can’t even tell how many people enter on TN visas, much less what kind of jobs they are filling or who is employing them,” Vaughan added. “Guest worker programs do not belong in trade agreements, period, because we give up control of them to an international bureaucracy, not Congress. U.S. jobs should not be a bargaining chip in trade agreements.”

In recent years, the number of TN visa workers in the U.S. has grown as more people have learned of the program. Since 2008, when the length of stay was increased from one year to three, some groups looked to TN visas as an alternative to other high-skilled visa programs.

Canadians using the program include doctors, nurses, engineers, accountants, hotel managers, land surveyors, nutritionists and computer systems analysts.

Leon Fresco, a former Justice Department official who now represents TN visa holders from Canada and Mexico, called Monday an important day for North American relations, emphasizing that the economies of the three nations are more integrated than many realize.

“The Canadians and Mexicans are also winners by keeping the TN-visa in existence in its current form, which allows their companies to have much-needed presence in the United States and allows mobility of workers across the continent,” Fresco said.

https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/pol...#storylink=cpy

Trump can't slash them or raise them, he's prohibited from doing so by Steve King's 2015 law. Congress will have to do it.

Originally Posted by Judy

Trump can't slash them or raise them, he's prohibited from doing so by Steve King's 2015 law. Congress will have to do it.

He most certainly could have ended them! Furthermore, I see no reason he couldn't have reduced them. We do agree that he couldn't have expanded them. Trump caved on what he wanted to make a deal. Of course anyone that has read his book probably knew this was probably what was going to happen.

Changing the name doesn't change the fact that this is nothing more than NAFTA 2.0.