Mexico Ratifies USMCA While Canada and U.S. Procrastinate

(WASHINGTON, DC) As House Democratic leadership sets its priorities before the August recess, one key piece of legislation is missing: USMCA. The new free-trade (FTA) deal between the United States, Mexico, and Canada was signed by leaders of all three countries and is set to replace a 25-year old NAFTA deal. The next step is ratification by the governments of the North American pact. Mexico’s Senate voted on Wednesday, overwhelmingly, to approve the FTA and it follows approval of a series of labor reforms that the U.S. had also demanded. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is on Capitol Hill this week meeting with lawmakers making a case for approval by Congress. At the same time, U.S. Trade Ambassador Robert Lighthizer has been testifying before House and Senate oversight committees. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (CA-12) says her party is unhappy with current enforcement mechanisms dealing with the environment and labor. Lighthizer has countered that each of the issues could be resolved in a few hours if he could get somebody to sit down and work it out.