Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said Wednesday that the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade “looked increasingly unlikely” to pass this year.
“For months now, House Democrats have said they are working on it, that they are making progress and that they are optimistic that they can get to ‘yes.’ But with each passing month, these seem less like good faith assurances and more like stalling tactics,” the Iowa Republican said a Senate floor speech. He noted that it was nearly a year since the United States, Mexico, and Canada approved the deal, which would replace the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement.
A Republican Senate aide told the Washington Examiner that the remarks were prompted by the calendar. The time to schedule and hold a House floor vote this year is rapidly shrinking, yet nothing seems to be happening despite extensive outreach efforts by the Trump administration. Grassley made a point of noting those efforts in his speech.
“Ambassador [Robert] Lighthizer, more than any trade representative that I can recall, has gone above and beyond to accommodate the other party’s policy demands,” the senator said. “For nearly a year now, Lighthizer has worked with House Democrats to find solutions on issues of concern to them like labor and environment, intellectual property, and enforcement. I am beginning to wonder if Democrats are interested in reaching a compromise at all. It is looking more like they would prefer to deprive the administration of a victory even if it comes at the expense of the American people.”
The White House and its allies on trade issues have gotten increasingly impatient with the Democrats’ slow pace on the deal. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador vowed in writing last week to pursue the labor reforms that House Democrats say are crucial if they are to support USMCA. The promise did not motivate Democrats to schedule a vote, however. They have argued that other issues on subjects, such as the environment and drug prices, are still outstanding.
“There’s really no substance — reason to not go for USMCA. There are only political reasons. It’s just them not being willing, apparently, to give the president yet another victory,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Monday. “Remember, there are only something like 20 congressional days between now and Christmas. So they better get going pretty fast if they’re going to do it.”
