Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will lobby House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to take up the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade during a visit to Washington this week.
Trudeau’s visit comes as the U.S.’ trade partners are gearing up in their respective legislatures to ratify the USMCA, which would replace the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement.
Trudeau will meet with Pelosi on Thursday, Reuters reported. Trudeau will also meet with President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Officials at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce predicted Monday that Mexican Senate, which has already taken up the trade deal, could have it ratified by next week. The trade deal is currently moving through the Canadian Parliament too and is expected to pass this summer.
Pelosi has been the principle obstacle for several months to the USMCA’s ratification. She has said that the deal, as written, lacks adequate mechanisms to enforce its labor and environmental provisions. As speaker, Pelosi has control over House proceedings and is not obligated to bring the deal up for a vote. Under current rules, the earliest the USMCA could pass in a House vote, should one be allowed, would be in the second week of July.
The speaker has agreed to set up working groups of lawmakers to sit down with members of the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office to try to find a solution. The Chamber officials said that the groups hadn’t yet begun working.
“That’s a good thing,” said John Murphy, the Chamber’s senior vice president for international policy. “We’ve reached that stage in the process where it is important for the administration and members of Congress to have these closed-door discussions. That’s how you reach resolution.”
