ICYMI: Press Coverage of Sen. Cruz’s Bold New Approach to Modernizing NAFTA
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) penned a letter to President Trump urging him to direct his trade negotiators to take a much broader view of the economic potential of NAFTA negotiations, and advance the Republican economic growth agenda by prioritizing American jobs and competitiveness.
Several news outlets covered the letter. Selected news coverage below:
The Daily Caller: Conservatives Back Senate Push To Take Alternative Tactic On NAFTA
“Conservative organizations in Washington, DC, are supporting an effort by Republican Senators to include a competitiveness chapter in the next iteration of NAFTA. The organizations, led by Phil Kerpen of American Commitment, wrote President Donald Trump to encourage him Wednesday to ‘urge inclusion in the competitiveness chapter of the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, which would require costly new regulations to be individually approved by Congress before they could take effect.’ The organizations signed on to the letter included the American Conservative Union, Americans for Tax Reform, the Club for Growth, Freedom Works, along with a host of other conservative advocacy groups. Kerpen told TheDC the REINs act ‘reverses the default’ of letting agencies like ‘EPA, the IRS, and all the other agencies write all the economic rules for the country unless Congress activity stops them’ by instead forcing agencies to submit rule changes to Congress for approval. The push for the act is being spearheaded by Republican Senators Ted Cruz, Cory Gardner, and Steve Daines who recently wrote Trump that ‘the current negotiating approach of trying to reestablish trade barriers that would interrupt ongoing commerce would lead directly to lost U.S. exports and American jobs. Instead, we need an approach that focuses on strengthening U.S. competitiveness from within.’”
The Washington Free Beacon: Conservative Leaders Tell Trump to Use NAFTA to Make America Competitive Again
“Conservative leaders delivered a letter to President Donald Trump Thursday morning that called on his administration to fix NAFTA through a proposal which would also give Congress oversight on major regulations. The letter, signed by 24 leaders of prominent conservative organizations, backed a recent proposal from Republican senators Ted Cruz (Texas), Cory Gardner (Colo.), and Steve Daines (Mont.). The three senators are encouraging the administration to seek to add a ‘competitiveness’ chapter to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), changing negotiators' focus from increasing tariffs to reducing barriers to American competition. ‘Rather than pursuing a defensive strategy that focuses solely on what other countries are doing to us, we need to develop a more comprehensive, offensive U.S. strategy to strengthen our economy from within, to more effectively counter the harmful trade policies of countries like China,’ the senators write.”
The McAllen Monitor: Cruz, colleagues want to add ‘competitiveness’ to NAFTA talks
“U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and two of his Republican colleagues wrote a letter to President Donald Trump on Wednesday proposing a new chapter for the North American Free Trade Agreement. Cruz, along with Sens. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., and Steve Daines, R-Mont., recommended that Trump add a ‘Competitiveness’ chapter in NAFTA, of which the seventh round of renegotiations between the United States, Mexico and Canada wrapped on March 5. The next round is likely to take place in Washington in early April. On Wednesday, Trump formally asked Congress to extend his fast-track authority over trade deals for three years. Trump called the extension of trade-promotion authorities ‘essential’ to demonstrate to foreign partners that the ‘administration and the Congress share a common goal when it comes to trade.’ The senators touted the plan as an unprecedented opportunity ‘to lock into law’ major elements of the president’s economic development plan. ‘To truly modernize NAFTA and re-energize the U.S. trade agenda, we need to include elements that address jobs and competitiveness head-on. That’s the paradigm shift in trade policy that you’ve consistently championed,’ they told Trump. ‘Modernizing NAFTA in this fashion’ would ‘put the United States in a much stronger position to forcefully confront China, which is pursuing its own domestic strategies that are often harmful to U.S. interests.’”
San Antonio Express-News: Cruz says NAFTA negotiations need "paradigm shift"
“Sen. Ted Cruz told President Donald Trump Wednesday his approach to renegotiating NAFTA needed a ‘paradigm shift.’ In a letter signed by Cruz and two other Republican senators, the Texas senator urged the White House not to concentrate on tariffs and other trade rules, but on encouraging foreign companies to invest here through measures like expedited permitting times and cutting regulations. ‘Rather than focusing on making it more difficult for companies to invest in other countries, we should instead make it easier for them to grow and invest here in the United States,’ the letter said. ‘We respectfully urge you to direct your trade negotiation team to seize a historic opportunity to take a much broader view of the economic potential of NAFTA negotiations and boldly advance the Republican economic growth agenda.’”
The Washington Times: Conservatives spot new tactic to bypass Senate filibuster
“Some of the conservative movement’s biggest names urged President Trump Thursday to use NAFTA negotiations as a way to get around a Democratic filibuster and push through major cuts to government regulations. In a letter to the president, the conservatives urged him to tuck the REINS Act, which would give Congress a veto over any new major Executive Branch regulations, inside a newly negotiated North American Free Trade Agreement. Including it in NAFTA would allow Congress to pass the REINS Act on a majority vote, thanks to the fast-track trade negotiating powers Congress gave to the executive branch in 2015.”
The Washington Examiner: Conservatives push for anti-regulatory language in NAFTA deal
“Several conservative activist groups urged the White House Thursday to include language in a renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement that would require congressional approval before any new domestic regulations costing more than $100 million annually take effect. Similar language has already passed the House, but stalled in the Senate due to Democratic opposition. Attaching it to NAFTA could circumvent this, the groups argued, because legislation to reshape NAFTA would be a privileged bill that can more easily pass through Congress.”
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