{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/newsroom-news-releases-barrasso-arrington-lead-bicameral-letter-to-biden-admin-on-mexico-undermining-usmca-energy-commitments/", "Barrasso, Arrington Lead Bicameral Letter to Biden Admin on Mexico Undermining USMCA Energy Commitments", "2023-07-21", "2023", "2023-07", "Republican", "Senate", "WY", "John Barrasso", "B001261", "www.barrasso.senate.gov", "barrasso", "https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/newsroom/news-releases/", "scraper", "CASPER, WY \u2013 U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) and U.S. Representative Jodey Arrington (R-TX), along with a bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators recently sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai regarding the Government of Mexico\u2019s pursuit of discriminatory policies that favor Mexican state-run energy companies and directly undermine United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) commitments. The letter demands Representative Tai swiftly establish a USMCA dispute settlement panel to address Mexico\u2019s discriminatory policies across the energy sector.\n\n\u201cThe United States has given Mexico more than enough time to rein in its discriminatory actions toward American energy producers,\u201d said Sen. Barrasso. \u201cSeventy-five days of consultations under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement have stretched on for nearly a year with little meaningful progress. It\u2019s time to convene a dispute resolution panel and put an end to these unfair practices once and for all.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe USMCA agreement was negotiated in good faith to ensure freer markets, fairer trade, and robust economic growth in North America. Mexico\u2019s actions in undermining American energy companies betray the historical bipartisan trade agreement,\u201d said Rep. Arrington. \u201cThe energy producers in the food, fuel, fiber capital of the world are relying on the administration to settle this dispute, continue the commitment to fair trade made in USMCA, and ensure all parties are upholding their part of the deal.\u201d\n\nThe American Petroleum Institute said, \u201cMexico\u2019s escalating pursuit of discriminatory policies that favor state-run energy companies violate the country\u2019s commitments under USCMA and directly threaten the prosperity of U.S. companies and their workers. The US has given Mexico several opportunities to fix its problematic policies, including last year\u2019s consultations request, but Mexico has made little effort to fix them. We welcome the efforts of trade leaders in both the House and Senate to address these alarming polices and support their request for the establishment of a dispute resolution panel.\u201d\n\nIn addition to Barrasso, Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Tim Scott (R-SC), James Lankford (R-OK), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Todd Young (R-IN), and Ron Johnson (R-WI) signed the letter.\n\nFull letter text below:\n\nJuly 20, 2023\n\nThe Honorable Katherine Tai\n\nU.S. Trade Representative\n\nOffice of the U.S. Trade Representative\n\n600 17th St. NW\n\nWashington D.C. 20006\n\nDear Ambassador Tai:\n\nWe write in regard to the Government of Mexico\u2019s pursuit of discriminatory policies that favor state-run energy companies and directly undermine United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) commitments. We strongly support your July 20, 2022 request for consultations\u2014an important initial step to enforce USMCA for U.S. energy workers and families. However, consultations under USMCA are designed to last only 75 days before a Party may request a dispute settlement panel to review the matter. The Biden Administration has afforded Mexico nearly a year\u2014and yet there remains a lack of any meaningful progress. Consequently, we urge you to pursue full enforcement action against the Government of Mexico to address its energy policies that hinder U.S. investment in Mexico\u2019s energy sector.\n\nThese discriminatory policies exist throughout Mexico\u2019s energy sector, including natural gas and oil exploration and production, electricity generation including solar and wind power, and retail sales. Mexico\u2019s unfair actions threaten over $10 billion in U.S. investment that have already been made and clearly run afoul of Mexico\u2019s USMCA obligations. Ensuring there is a reliable market for U.S. energy production and infrastructure will help strengthen energy supply chains in North America and lower energy costs for consumers as Americans continue to feel the impacts of volatile energy markets.\n\nExtending the period of consultations has not yielded results. Robust enforcement action is necessary\u2014not just in the renewable energy sector, but across the entire energy sector. Establishing a dispute settlement panel for these troubling energy issues will demonstrate that the United States is serious about enforcing USMCA to provide Americans the benefits that the we bargained so hard to achieve in USMCA negotiations.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:25:20Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/newsroom-news-releases-barrasso-arrington-lead-bicameral-letter-to-biden-admin-on-mexico-undermining-usmca-energy-commitments/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 4.768866114318371, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}