USMCA Working Group Members' Mood After Meeting Diverges; Caucus Is Hearing Biologics Solution Found

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., who leads the group, said Oct. 23 that "we're really making progress on this, and we have really narrowed our differences considerably. I think that's going to take a few more meetings like this." He said congressional staff members will meet for three hours on each of the next two days. He said he's happy with the progress since the working group last met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

"There were a couple bumps in the road last week, they seem to be at least, for the moment, smoothed out," he told reporters. "I actually feel pretty good about this. We have gotten a lot off the table where we have agreed not to revisit."

Working group member Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., said, "There's still a lot of back and forth, but I can't think of a meeting we've been in where there hasn't been steady progress. I think that bodes well."

Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., working group member, said, "I think we're making good progress. It's going well," The California Democrat said It's possible that an agreement between the USTR and the group could be achieved before Thanksgiving, and after this meeting, he thinks it's more possible than he did last week.

Neal acknowledged there's still a lot to do, but said in his years in office, he's also seen how "magic" can happen. "I know how you can wrap things up all of a sudden," he said.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., a working group member who's leading the push on biologics, said of movement on that issue: "Nothing's in writing yet," but added, "we're optimistic on it."

Although Schakowsky, as one of the more left-leaning members of the working group, might be expected to be most wary, it was Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., who sounded the most notes of caution.

Blumenauer said, "I think issues have narrowed. It looks that way, but you don't know until you're done. While some look encouraging, it's not signed, sealed and delivered."

Gomez said, "We're in the hard part of the negotiations. It's just the stuff we've got to work out line by line, detail by detail, make sure everybody has a common understanding of what we're writing down, what we believe we have agreed to, and what is still outstanding. So this is the grind.

"The words make a difference ... 'shall' vs. 'may,' 'within,' all of that makes a difference on how this will be ultimately carried out.

"So far I feel OK, but it's delicate, right? Anything could knock the negotiations off track. We need to make sure we block out as much noise as possible... ." He made a joke about members storming the negotiation rooms: "We have enough of that in other committees," he said, referring to dozens of Republicans who stopped a Ukraine-related witness from testifying in the Intelligence Committee by occupying that secure room.

Gomez said he isn't concerned that the drama around impeachment is interfering with the working group "because people are committed to getting something done. But I've always said this, the longer this goes, the more uncertainty is created. It's difficult to move forward, but we gotta move forward faster."

Still, Gomez said he'd rather the working group be where it is now, compared to where they were "even a couple of weeks ago."

Outside the working group, House members are trying to get a sense of how the pact is changing, and what that might mean for their votes.

Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, said, "My sense is that there's steady progress ... I think they're narrowing the differences, all with an eye to having the vote this year."

He said he's not worried that the administration will make changes to the trade pact that will endanger Republican votes. "I'm pretty confident we can reach common ground on this," he said.

Some freshman Democrats are getting lobbied on the NAFTA rewrite -- the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement -- ratification when they're home, like Rep Vanessa Escobar, D-Texas. "It's important to El Paso, the business community folks, the farmers ... yeah, I hear about it all the time." She said she has faith in the working group and the USTR. "Everybody wants to see it happen," she said.

The Progressive Caucus is the home to the majority of members expected to vote no on ratification. Co-Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., told reporters in a hallway interview: "Every day we talk about the USMCA. We need to make sure it's fair, so we don't repeat the mistakes of the last few trade agreements. We're also consulting with our labor partners, and our environmental partners. Sounds like there might be some movement on the biologics."

But Jayapal said the additional money dedicated by Mexico for labor reform does not give her "great comfort that Mexico can do what it says it's gonna do." She said the plan for renegotiating contracts of protection unions seems to start with the smallest, most rural unions. She said, "If you're really serious about this, start with the biggest ones that have the most impact on our bilateral trade."