On Thursday, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seated at his side, President Trump predicted a “very bipartisan” vote in Congress for adoption of the so-called new NAFTA, though when the House will vote on the trade pact is unclear. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters ahead of a one-on-one with Trudeau that “we’re working in a positive way,” but she did not predict when the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement would be put to a vote.
House Democrats have called for tougher labor, environmental, and pharmaceutical provisions and a stronger enforcement system for the USMCA. U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer said this week that he hoped for “substantial progress” in discussions with Democrats so that implementing legislation can be sent to Congress “very soon.”
“I have to get the Democrats to approve it,” said Trump during a brief session with reporters at the White House. “I really believe Nancy Pelosi and the House will approve it. I think the Senate will approve it very rapidly. It’s going to be very bipartisan.”
Trudeau said Canada was “moving forward on the ratification process aligned with [the United States].” On Wednesday, Mexico’s Senate approved the USMCA in a landslide vote.
Trump repeatedly mentioned “the farmers” during the session with Trudeau. The USMCA “is great for the farmers, manufacturers, great for everybody,” he said at one point. At another, he said ratification was “very important” for farmers in all three countries. “The farmers are very happy with it. We’re really competing against the world,” he said of the North American bloc.
Adoption of the USMCA does not guarantee the end of tariffs on Mexico and Canada, said Trump. “Well, we’ll see. They have to do what they have to do. We understand that. We can’t have tremendous shipments of certain products — we understand that very well,” said the president in an apparent reference to steel and aluminum imports.
“We’ll be fine,” responded Trudeau. Canada has taken steps to prevent transshipment of steel into the United States and struck a deal with the Trump administration to monitor for signs of the dumping of cheap steel, said CBC News. The United States blames China for overproducing steel and selling it at unfairly low prices on the world market.
U.S. farm groups said their exports had suffered because Canada and Mexico retaliated against the U.S. tariffs. The White House announced a deal in mid-May to remove the tariffs.
After greeting Trudeau at the Capitol, Pelosi said she expected a “lively discussion” on trade and other issues. At a morning news conference, she said her message to Trudeau on the USMCA would be: “We’re working in a positive way. We’re optimistic. We’re hopeful.”