Senators demand US commerce chief Tai halt late talks on investor protections

By David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Wednesday known as on U.S. Commerce Consultant Katherine Tai to cease “secret negotiations” with Mexico, Canada and Colombia that they are saying would weaken investor protections in some U.S. free commerce offers through the Biden administration’s last days.

The letter, led by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, a Republican, and the panel’s high Democrat, Ron Wyden, mentioned Tai was looking for to achieve binding agreements on authorized interpretations of funding protections earlier than President-elect Donald Trump takes workplace on Monday.

A supply near the commerce talks rejected the senators’ characterization of the talks as secret, insisting that the U.S. Commerce Consultant’s workplace had consulted members of Congress regardless of no authorized requirement to take action.

USTR officers didn’t reply to Reuters’ request for touch upon the matter.

The Inside U.S. Commerce newspaper quoted an unnamed USTR official as additionally saying that there have been consultations, however that Congress had delegated the authority for commerce deal interpretations to the company.

The talks could alter how funding disputes could be dealt with within the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Settlement on commerce (USMCA), the U.S. Colombia Commerce Promotion Settlement and the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Commerce Settlement (CAFTA-DR).

“Sadly, USTR is pursuing substantive modifications to congressionally authorised commerce agreements on an abbreviated timeline, out of the view of the general public, and with out significant congressional session,” they wrote.

The USTR ought to conduct such negotiations beneath “strong consultations with Congress” and search to make use of any modifications to realize commerce concessions with Mexico, Canada and different companions, the senators mentioned.

A spokesperson for Trump’s transition workforce didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

When the U.S. Chamber of Commerce first raised issues concerning the USTR discussions in December, the company denied that there have been secret, formal negotiations underway.

Since USTR by no means introduced the talks, the precise modifications that Tai is looking for haven’t been made public.

However Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, has mentioned he desires to renegotiate the nation’s U.S. commerce deal to finish investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions that permit corporations to make use of third-party tribunals to arbitrate funding disputes, which have led to giant injury claims towards his authorities.

DEMOCRATS ON BOTH SIDES

A gaggle of 37 Democratic lawmakers in December urged Tai to remove ISDS tribunals, arguing that they offer companies an excessive amount of energy towards reputable authorities actions and make it simpler for them to maneuver American jobs abroad.

However since then, a rising variety of Republican lawmakers, together with a number of Democrats, have decried the discussions, arguing that weakening funding protections will undercut American corporations.

Final week 26 Home of Representatives members, together with 16 Republicans and 10 Democrats despatched Tai a letter, expressing issues that the talks could finish a USMCA provision that allowed U.S. agency Vulcan Supplies (NYSE:VMC) to pursue claims towards Mexico over a brand new nature protect that has impaired its limestone quarry and port on the Yucatan peninsula.

The Vulcan quarry is a key provider to infrastructure initiatives within the southeastern U.S.

“What Mexico has performed is stepped in and stolen this property. It is expropriated it,” Republican Senator Invoice Hagerty instructed Fox Information Channel on Sunday, referring to the Vulcan quarry. “And what Biden is doing right here on the eleventh hour is attempting handy this over to Mexico.”