WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-MA) and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) sent a letter to Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX), requesting he convene a House Advisory Group on Negotiations (HAGON) meeting on NAFTA. Given reports that the agreement’s renegotiation could conclude in the coming weeks, Neal and Pascrell ask that U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Robert Lighthizer attend the meeting and provide HAGON members with an update.
“During trade negotiations, TPA requires that the Administration ‘consult closely and on a timely basis with’ the HAGON and keep the HAGON ‘fully apprised of the negotiations,’" wrote the members. “TPA also requires that the Administration consult with the HAGON before it enters into a trade agreement."
The Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (TPA) established the HAGON, and the group’s membership comprises the chairman and ranking member (or their designees) of the Committees in the House of Representatives that have, under House Rules, jurisdiction over provisions of law affected by trade agreements.
“The HAGON convened twice in 2017 to consult with the Administration prior to the official launch of the NAFTA renegotiation: once on March 21 to meet with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and again on May 17 with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer," the members added. “The HAGON has not met since then to consult with the Administration on the NAFTA renegotiation or any other trade agreement negotiation being conducted by the Administration."
