Technology and telecom policy matters were again largely absent during Tuesday night's debate among 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls, following a pattern set at the candidates’ December bout (see 1912200062) and most previous panels. Former Vice President Joe Biden suggested amid a discussion about the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on free trade that “we should be putting our money and our effort and our time in preparing American workers to compete in the 21st century on the high-tech side, dealing with artificial intelligence.” The Senate Commerce and Foreign Relations committees advanced USMCA Wednesday on voice votes. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted 22-1 to clear it, while the chamber’s Appropriations Committee advanced it 29-2. The Senate Public Works and Budget committees advanced USMCA earlier this week (see 2001150080). Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts pledged at the debate to roll back a Council on Environmental Quality NPRM promoted by President Donald Trump that aims to narrow the timeline of all federal agencies’ National Environmental Policy Act reviews of proposed infrastructure projects (see 2001090058). Warren also twice criticized Amazon for not paying federal income taxes in 2018, saying “we can make them pay.”
Enactment of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on free trade would increase federal tariff revenue by $230 million in 2023 and $360 million in 2024, estimated the Congressional Budget Office last week. CBO projects that “certain imports of motor vehicles and parts” that currently enter the U.S. duty-free under North American Free Trade Agreement would no longer be eligible for such treatment under the stricter rules of origin in USMCA. It expects that some of what was made would be replaced by domestic production, but some would be replaced by imports subject to tariffs.
CTA hailed the House's "swift" 385-41 OK of legislation ratifying the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on free trade, saying the Senate "now needs to do its part." USMCA "will help American technology leadership and ensure business of all sizes thrive in a competitive global marketplace," said CTA President Gary Shapiro. USMCA's "modernized provisions will help ensure that North American trade policy reflects today’s global economy and will continue to benefit the U.S. economy," said David French, National Retail Federation senior vice president-government relations. "USMCA is a meaningful trade victory that will provide benefits for decades to come.”
Senate Republicans are eager to pass the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, despite reservations about including language shielding the tech industry from content liability. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced an agreement with the White House on USMCA Tuesday (see 1912100012). Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said that chamber will consider the trade pact in 2020 (see 1912100015).
Tech and business groups hailed the pact announced Tuesday between House Democrats and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on legislative terms to ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on free trade. There’s “no question” USMCA is “much better” than the North American Free Trade Agreement, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “In terms of our work here, it is infinitely better than what was initially proposed by the administration.”
House Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., “largely” agrees the tech industry should have to earn its content liability protection. After Wednesday’s hearing on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (see 1910150058), she told reporters it’s important Congress finds the best way to ensure content is “managed appropriately.”
Even minor changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act could have “outsized consequences” for the tech industry and consumers, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman plans to testify Wednesday. Consumer advocates and academics prepared testimony blaming the industry for not doing enough to combat illegal platform activity. House Commerce Committee lawmakers meet Wednesday to discuss the industry’s content liability shield (see 1910090059).
The time is “now” for Congress to ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on free trade, said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., Tuesday on the Senate floor. USMCA will “benefit pretty much every sector of the U.S. economy,” said the majority whip. “With so many trade deals currently up in the air,” farmers and ranchers Thune met in South Dakota during the August recess “are struggling with a lack of certainty about what international markets are going to look like,” he said. They share President Donald Trump’s goal “of addressing trade imbalances and securing more favorable conditions for American products, [but] they also believe that we need to conclude the agreements we’re negotiating as soon as possible,” he said. “The surest way to stabilize and boost farm income and help farm country is to conclude agreements like USMCA.”
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on free trade “is critical to our economic future and congressional approval will promote America’s global digital leadership,” wrote CTA, the Information Technology Industry Council, Semiconductor Industry Association and eight other tech groups Monday, urging its ratification. “Internet-connected small businesses are three times as likely to export and create jobs, grow four times more quickly, and earn twice as much revenue per employee,” they said. “Their success is thanks to America’s digital policy framework, and USMCA will modernize North American trade rules to better reflect that framework.” Passing the USMCA “would be a significant step” toward guaranteeing North American leadership in the global digital economy and establishing a “worldwide framework to address the challenges confronting global access and usage of digital trade,” they said. Also signing were ACT|The App Association, BSA|The Software Alliance, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, CompTIA, Internet Association, Internet Infrastructure Coalition, Software & Information Industry Association and TechNet.
The National Retail Federation supported the Trump administration’s efforts to “modernize” the North American Free Trade Agreement “to reflect today’s business environment and support long-term U.S. economic growth,” and so it urges Congress to ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on free trade, wrote Senior Vice President-Government Relations David French to House and Senate leaders Wednesday. Retailers are “encouraged by some of the new and updated provisions in USMCA relating to digital trade, cross-border data flows, and customs and trade facilitation,” said French. The internet has “changed the way everyone does business, along with ways that consumers purchase goods and interact with retailers,” he said. “As value chains have deepened, cross-border data flows have grown,” he said. “These modernized provisions will help ensure that the new agreement reflects today’s global economy.”