Senate Approves USMCA Trade Agreement, Trump’s Signature Coming

WASHINGTON, DC – By a final vote of 89-10, the U.S. Senate on Thursday approved the passage of a trade agreement to replace the 25-year old North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA. USMCA is a signed but not ratified free trade agreement between the United States of America, Mexico, and Canada, and now heads to the President’s desk for his signature. A top priority for the Trump administration and a campaign promise was to ditch NAFTA. However, after hearing from many agricultural interests, Trump decided to renegotiate the deal. It’s been 14 months since trade negotiators finalized the deal, but the pact was stalled in the House of Representatives where Democrats pressed for further concessions from Mexico in labor and enforcement mechanisms. Mexico ratified the deal recently and Canada is expected to do so before the end of the month. For agriculture, Senate passage marks the end of an exciting 24 hours that also saw President Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He sign a Phase One trade agreement between the U.S. and China, opening the door for what could be up to $40 billion in agricultural export sales this year alone. Canada and Mexico are the top two largest export markets for United States food and agricultural products, totaling more than $39.7 billion in 2018 alone, with exports supporting more than 325,000 American jobs.