Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross indicated Monday that the administration was losing patience with Congressional Democrats over the slow pace of efforts to get the U.S. Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade passed.
The White House has been in talks with Democrats for months to set up a floor vote on the deal, but lawmakers say that further tweaks are needed. Ross claimed that the Democrats were not negotiating in good faith.
“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,” Ross said Monday on Fox Business. “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.”
Last week, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador vowed in writing to fund the labor reforms that House Democrats say are crucial if they are to support USMCA, addressing the key issues that were holding up the trade deal. Yet Lopez Obrador’s promise did not prompt Democrats to schedule a vote, as some have said that they are not convinced that enforcement will be sufficient.
USMCA would replace the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement. President Trump has previously threatened to pull the U.S. out of NAFTA if USMCA is not passed. Ross said that a pullout was not currently the White House plan, but warned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi not to put off a vote any further.
“Right now, we’re not focused on negative alternatives. Right now we’re focused on trying to make clear, through the American public, to Nancy Pelosi, she should put it on the floor,” he said. “If Democrats really don’t like it, let them vote it down. We believe there’s no question that if it gets to the floor, it will be voted very strongly, both in the House and the Senate.”
