Time is running short for President Trump to win congressional approval of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement this year, with lawmakers set to work just eight weeks before adjourning in early December. Vice President Mike Pence called on House Democrats on Wednesday to set aside their “partisan impeachment” inquiry and approve the USMCA this year.
“I came to Iowa today to turn up the heat,” said Pence, speaking at a farm 15 miles west of Des Moines. “It’s time for Democrats in Congress to do their job, put politics aside, and pass the USMCA this year. The truth is — we all know it — the Democrats have been spending all their time on endless investigations and partisan impeachment. But enough is enough.”
Congress will convene for its fall session on Tuesday. A top priority will be legislation to fund the government for the rest of fiscal 2020. A stopgap appropriations bill expires on Nov. 21. Farm and business groups, as well as the administration, have pressed since early summer for action on the USMCA, the successor to NAFTA. Analysts hold mixed views about whether the House impeachment inquiry will sidetrack the free trade agreement.
Against a backdrop of massive farm equipment, huge grain bins, and fields of corn, Pence said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and majority-party Democrats “have refused” to call a vote on the USMCA. House Democrats, who have worked on the pact with U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer for weeks, want stronger language on labor, environmental, pharmaceutical, and enforcement provisions for the USMCA. Pelosi said last week, “We’re on the path to yes.”
“It’s very important it gets done before the end of the year,” Senate Finance Committee chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa told reporters before joining Pence at Manning Farms, near Waukee. “Next year, by golly, is an election year,” when legislation traditionally slows down. “Time is ticking.”
Chairman Richard Neal of the House Ways and Means Committee and four other Democrats met with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday to discuss Mexico’s ability to follow through on promises made in the USMCA. “The United States needs to see those assurances put into action,” said Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat, afterward. “I appreciate today’s positive engagement and am eager to see Mexico demonstrate its commitment to implementing the changes necessary to realize its own vision for reform and meet the demanding labor and enforcement standards that will be required by the renegotiated NAFTA.”
The Mexican Senate ratified the USMCA on June 19. Canada, which will hold parliamentary elections on Oct. 21, says it will act on the USMCA as soon as the United States does.
Under the Constitution, the House must vote first on the USMCA because the treaty would modify tariffs and is thus considered a tax bill.
Analysts say the USMCA would result in a modest increase in ag trade with Canada and Mexico, which account for one-third of U.S. food and agricultural trade. The pact would preserve duty-free access for most U.S. farm exports to the North American neighbors. Farm exports to Mexico and Canada would rise by $2 billion, said Pence. That would be a 1.5 percent increase overall for U.S. farm exports, forecast for $137 billion this fiscal year.