Congress Expected to Receive USMCA After August Recess

(WASHINGTON, DC) Commodity and general farm groups are encouraging Congress to move quickly on a new free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, also known as the USMCA. The deal was signed by leaders of all three countries and ratified by Mexico, so Canada and the United States need to follow the lead in an effort to reform the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). CNBC is reporting that the White House will officially submit the revision to Congress after the Agust recess. The USMCA was negotiated by the Trump Administration using the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) provided by Congress while President Barrack Obama was still in office. TPA gives Congress the ability to drive the negotiations through oversight so that when a final deal is reached, ideally it is one that both Chambers can support with an up or down vote. Only a handful of groups representing agriculture are against USMCA, as are some Democratic members of Congress. Mexico represents the top market for many U.S. agricultural exports.