President Trump is calling on the Democrat party in Congress to approve the United States Mexico Agreement (USMCA). It’s also gaining support across the isle under the shadow of broad economic threats coming from China.
The Mexican Senate approved NAFTA’s replacement on Wednesday. In Canada, the trade agreement is in its final stage of the legislative review process.
In the U.S. Congress, the Republican Party hopes that the USMCA will be passed before the end of August, but as the Democrat Party controls the House, some members are still seeking to amend the agreement by strengthening labor enforcement measures.
Henry Cuellar, U.S. House of Representative (D-TX) said, “Democrats want to make sure it’s part of the implementing language. It is going to happen. We’re hoping maybe before the August break. But it will probably be in the fall. But it will come up to a vote. I feel very confident about that, and it will be successful.”
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a Congressional hearing this week that there is still room to strengthen the implementation of the agreement. He also said that he would work with Democrats to solve other issues.
“He’s done a good job in the sense that he sat down with different stakeholders, he sat down with Democrats; he’s addressed a lot of the labor issues that the Democrats wanted, especially since they were not there in the 1990s,” Cuellar said.
Republican Congressman Will Hurd said the two parties must cooperate to ensure USMCA goes through, so that the United States can be in a better position to deal with China on broader economic issues.
Will Hurd, US House of Representatives (R-TX) said, “We should be talking about how are we using North American competitiveness to go after other markets and deal with China. China is the real threat to our broader economy, not just in the US, but in the entire North America.”
He said the next step is discussing how to move global supply chains away from China and direct them into to Mexico and Canada.
