US House appeared to have moved closer to ratifying the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. House speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday, “we are within range of a substantially improved agreement for America’s workers”. And, “now, we need to see our progress in writing from the Trade Representative for final review.”
She criticized that the original version of USMCA crafted last year “still left American workers exposed to losing their jobs to Mexico, included unacceptable provisions to lock in high prescription drug prices, and fell short of key environmental standards.” She contended it also lacked “concrete, effective enforcement mechanisms.” Months were spent in the negotiations between Democrats and the administration on fine tuning the details. President Donald Trump and Republicans are pushing for a vote to ratify the deal by the end of the year.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador also stepped up the pressure on US and planed to send another letter to Pelosi this week urging Congress to approve the USMCA. Jesus Seade, Deputy Foreign Minister for North America, however, sounded pessimistic as he noted, “far from reaching a deal, in the last two weeks, statements from certain labor sectors have re-emerged, floating ideas that would be totally unacceptable to Mexico.”
