An Americas (First) Act

An encouraging push from some far-sighted Members of Congress

The bill is titled the '“Americas Trade and Investment Act” or “Americas Act” for short.

The goal"?

A Bill to establish a regional trade, investment, and people-to- people partnership of countries in the Western Hemisphere to stimulate growth and integration through viable long-term private sector development, and for other purposes.

The quartet thinking ahead:

• U.S. Representative María Elvira Salazar (R-FL)

• U.S. Representative Adriano Espaillat (D-NY)

• U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA)

• U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO).

Bipartisan and spread around the country. You gotta like that.

The Americas Act was introduced back in January of 2023 (it would seem primarily by Cassidy). It doesn’t appear to have gone anywhere official since then, but that’s to be expected in a national election season. Cassidy seems to be promoting it like crazy, and last summer touted all the initial good press and diplomatic response it was getting.

More generally, I admire the thinking and the ambition and the vector. Who knows where it could go in a Harris Administration, although I shudder to think of the reception it would get from a second Trump Administration (hard to foster any of this integration while engaging in mass deportations that will suck up all the region’s diplomatic oxygen).

Here’s what the four Members indicate drives the act’s purpose.

Salazar:

It’s past time we unleash the full economic potential of the United States and Latin America. The Americas Act is THE solution to grow our economy and bring stability to the hemisphere. This bill will create world-class business opportunities and jobs in Miami, help our allies in Latin America, build resiliency for American supply chains, and combat China’s influence.

I like resiliency of supply chains and countering Chinese influence.

Cassidy:

We need to re-level the playing field between freedom-loving democracies and those who exploit the rules like China. We do that by refocusing on the Western Hemisphere to improve trade, bring manufacturing back to our shores, and end China’s growing influence. Our Americas Act will make economies across the hemisphere more resilient, governments more stable, and our hemisphere more prosperous.”

“Re-level the playing field” is a good metaphor, and the “refocusing” concept is great.

Bennet:

No region has greater ties to the United States than the Western Hemisphere. Yet in recent years we have failed to offer the region a compelling economic alternative to China’s growing influence. This bill changes that. It creates an opportunity for the United States to renew our partnerships across Latin America and the Caribbean, strengthen the rule of law, deepen economic prosperity, and embrace our values in a shared struggle for democracy.

“Compelling economic alternative” is key.

Espaillat:

At its core, the Americas Act is a multi-billion-dollar job creation tool for the U.S. and its allies in Latin America and the Caribbean. With its reshoring and nearshoring loans, tax benefits, and other targeted grant assistance for workers at home and in our Western Hemisphere partner countries, the Americas Act will bring jobs and investment back to our Hemisphere and stem the root causes of migration by putting more money into the pockets of working families.

Attacking the root causes of migration. Nice.

Really, all the effort is missing (for now) is the compelling geopolitical urgency created by climate change.

So, what’s inside the bill?

Generally: The Americas Act aims to create a comprehensive trade and investment partnership among countries in the Western Hemisphere. The bill seeks to stimulate economic growth, promote integration, and counter China's growing influence in the region.

Specifically, the Act:

• Expands the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), opening it up to new members!

  • Directs the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to begin negotiations with USMCA partners on allowing Americas Partnership countries to join an expanded USMCA.

  • Provides a limited Trade Promotion Authority for the purpose of USMCA expansion.

  • Cites Costa Rica and Uruguay as prime trial candidate.

  • An Americas Partnership Threshold Program is established to help countries become compliant with USMCA standards.

• Undertakes tariff reforms (lowering, harmonizing)

• Creates the non-profit AMERICAS INSTITUTE FOR DIGITAL GOVERN-

  ANCE to push inter-state collaboration there.

• Creates the high-level Americas Partnership board, focusing on trade, investment, and people-to-people connections

• Designed to be self-funded, primarily by closing the "de minimis" loophole on duty-free imports under $800.

• Open to countries meeting standards of democratic governance, rule of law, and trade practices (obviously, Russia and China excluded as out-of-region, non-democracies).