State-to-state dispute settlement — formerly in Chapter 20 — is being kept. It has many critics, particularly in the labor community, because panels often get blocked and disputes linger for years.
The old Nafta's so-called Chapter 19 dispute-settlement mechanism — which hears bi-national anti-dumping and countervailing duties cases — remains untouched in the new agreement, the officials said. Canada dug in to save those.
Investor-state dispute settlement, formerly in Chapter 11, will be phased out between the U.S. and Canada but remain in place for certain key sectors — such as oil and gas, infrastructure and telecommunications — between the U.S. and Mexico, according to the White House officials.
4. Dairy
As part of the deal, the U.S. is getting expanded access to Canada's protected dairy market, long a thorn in the side of trade talks. Canada will eliminate its so-called Class 7 milk pricing system, a senior U.S. administration official told reporters.
New measures will prevent Canada's system from spilling outside its borders, while market access for the U.S. will exceed Canada's concessions in Trans-Pacific Partnership talks, the U.S. official said. Canada gave up 3.3 percent of its market in those TPP talks, but the U.S. has since quit the deal.
5. No Sunset
The U.S. had demanded a sunset clause that would kill Nafta after five years unless the countries agreed to extend it. Few ideas upset the Canadians and Mexicans more than that.
In the end, the countries agreed to a 16-year term for the deal, with a review to identify and fix problems and a chance of a deal extension after six years. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in August that the review mechanism is designed to solve problems and prevent them from festering, rather than to terminate the deal.
6. Intellectual Property
The office of the U.S. Trade Representative boasted that the deal would provide "new protections for U.S. intellectual property," which the U.S. had been seeking. Copyright will, for instance, extend 70 years after an author's death.
7. Higher Thresholds
Both Canada and Mexico agreed to raise the thresholds at which they apply duties to cross-border purchase, another key U.S. demand. Mexico raised its so-called de minimis level to $100 from $50. Canada raised its to C$150 ($117) for duties, from C$20 earlier, and C$40 for sales taxes.
