The tariffs on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum imports are history, removing a key barrier to ratifying the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA). However, Democrats are still not close to giving full support to the Trump Administration’s biggest trade victory.
Agri-Pulse says Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says, “There are still many other issues that are outstanding before Democrats would support the USMCA.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants changes made to USMCA that would add enforcement regulations to Mexican labor reform. They’d also like to reverse an agreement with Mexico and Canada to extend patents for certain pharmaceutical drugs to 10 years.
Wisconsin Representative Ron Kind, a Democrat with the House Ways and Means Committee, says his fellow Democrats want some changes in the body of the agreement. Side letters won’t be enough.
U.S. Trade Rep Robert Lighthizer is listening to Democrat concerns but is growing frustrated with the overall number of those concerns, as well as the number of Congressional members on the fence when it comes to the trade deal.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says if USMCA can get through the House, it won’t have a problem getting through the Senate and to the president’s desk for signature.
Source: National Association of Farm Broadcasters