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Meet The New NAFTA, Not Like The Old NAFTA

Cows congregate at Waterman Farms in Columbus.
Rivet
/
WOSU
Cows congregate at Waterman Farms in Columbus.

In this week's episode of Snollygoster, Ohio's politics podcast from WOSU, hosts Mike Thompson and Steve Brown discuss the bipartisan support for a new North American trade deal. Case Western Reserve University law professor Juscelino Colares joins the show.

Listen to Snollygoster on theWOSU Public Media mobile app, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And make sure to leave a rating and review!

On this week's episode:
NAFTA 2.0

A new trade agreement called the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement is getting support from both Republicans and Democrats, including President Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Rob Portman and possibly Sen. Sherrod Brown.

The proposed USMCA really does not do a whole lot to alter the basic premise of free trade across North America but it does make some changes, including setting minimum wages for many of the components of car manufacturing at $16 an hour. It requires more North American steel be used in auto manufacturing.

The agreement also better protects intellectual property in the digital age, and opens up Canada to more U.S. dairy products, a big win for Ohio's dairy farmers.

Snollygoster Of The Week

This week a nativity scene appeared on the grounds of the Ohio Statehouse. Many court battles have been fought over such displays, but the group that manages the Statehouse says there is no church and state violation here, because a private group took out a permit to have the display on the grounds. They claim that because it is a private display, it’s constitutional.

So for finding a loophole in state regulations to celebrate Christmas on government property, the groups Ohio Nativity Scene and Thomas More Society are our "Snollygosters of the Week."

Send questions and comments to snollygoster@wosu.org.

Mike Thompson spends much of his time correcting people who mispronounce the name of his hometown – Worcester, Massachusetts. Mike studied broadcast journalism at Syracuse University when he was not running in circles – as a distance runner on the SU track team.
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