The United States ? Mexico ? Canada Agreement (USMCA) was designed to be the replacement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which was implemented more than twenty years ago. All three countries worked on redrafting the agreement and came to a consensus in November of last year. Mexico ratified the agreement in mid-June. Now, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants the three countries to reopen negotiations again over topics which House Democrats want to be changed. Pelosi says these changes would be ?surgical?.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she wants to see the USMCA trade pact be ratified. However, House Democrats are wanting better language on labor and environmental sections of the agreement. Pelosi says the Trump Administration has plenty of leverage to get it all done.
Pelosi has a team negotiating these very topics with United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Lighthizer has said he could address all their concerns in an afternoon. Pelosi says having a side note, a letter, or verbal agreement isn?t the same as having the language in the USMCA document.
House Ways & Means Trade Subcommittee Chair Earl Blumenauer (D-OR 3rd) says he believes Mexico and Canada would be receptive to reopening the language on those parts of the agreement. Detractors, including Ambassador Lighthizer, have said these are just stalling tactics to keep President Trump from gaining a political victory before the 2020 elections. Pelosi denies any of these requests being politically motivated.
This could be a bit of a sticky wicket as we move forward. House Democrats have said they need these assurances if they are going to start moving USMCA through the Congress. Republicans say they have enough votes to move it through the House now. Senate Republicans say the bill will have no problem moving through their chamber. The tricky part lies in the fact that Mexico has already ratified the agreement as it stands and may not be open to renegotiation.
