Majority Leader Says Ways and Means Staff, Lighthizer Starting to Work on Specifics
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has been asking Democratic leaders for specifics on what they need him to do to get their support, and Hoyer said he thinks there will be "more productive conversations" on those specifics between Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., his staff, and the office of the USTR. "Those specifics are essential," Hoyer said in response to a question from International Trade Today during a May 21 press conference.
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Hoyer described Lighthizer's message as: "OK, you want enforcement, what does that mean, what do we have to do?"
Hoyer, who is No. 2 in the House leadership, did not describe any specifics on enforcement, though he linked enforcement to the need to make sure Mexico follows through with its new labor law. He added that "obviously the dispute resolution is still an issue." State-to-state dispute panels have not been formed in 19 years, because any party can block panelists from being appointed (see 1807230029). Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, a Houston-area Democrat who's a target of lobbying by pro-ratification groups, told ITT that panel blocking is an issue she hears about from her constituents (see 1904050035).
"Biologics, and the length of exclusivity for patents, is still an issue," Hoyer continued. But Hoyer noted that organized labor and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have both said they're trying to get to yes on the NAFTA rewrite (see 1905020053), and he said those comments are sincere.