Inside U.S. Trade Mentions Debate on Americas Act at the 2023 Washington Conference
Inside U.S. Trade Mentions Debate on Americas Act at the 2023 Washington Conference
''There's no point in doing it if we can't get the private sector to lead here,'' said Senator Bennet at the COA event, according to the trade outlet.
The Biden administration has been advising Senate Finance Committee members Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) on their forthcoming Americas Act, according to Bennet, who calls private-sector investment in the Western Hemisphere key to the success of their developing plan.
Cassidy and House Foreign Affairs Western Hemisphere subcommittee Chair María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) in January released a discussion draft of the bill they are crafting to revamp the United States’ foreign and economic policy in the Western Hemisphere, including a path for some countries to join the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Bennet in May backed the bill, while House Appropriations Committee member Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) in September said he too would support it.
During a November 21 interview with Council of the Americas Vice President Eric Farnsworth, a longtime advocate of USMCA expansion, Bennet said the White House has had "a very good reaction" to the developing legislation and was chiming in on how it should be crafted.
"Our bill is still in progress ... and they're weighing in with some suggestions about how to change it, which will be good because I think it'd be good to have the administration and Congress on the same page," he said.
The White House has not yet commented publicly on the bill. Cassidy in September said Special Presidential Adviser for the Americas Chris Dodd had become its "biggest cheerleader," in part because of Bennet’s support for the bill.
