President Predicts USMCA Ratification as Senators Fret

President Donald Trump, speaking at a fracking conference in Pennsylvania, first said that Democrats don't want to put the NAFTA rewrite up for a vote, then said, "But I think they're going to put it up because everybody wants it, and I think ultimately, they're going to do the right thing."

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, spoke on the floor Oct. 23, sharing his trepidation: "the Democratically controlled House of Representatives looks increasingly less likely to act this year on USMCA. That threatens passage of the trilateral trade deal this Congress, as next year is a presidential election year."

He added, "I’m beginning to wonder if Democrats are interested in reaching a compromise at all. It’s looking more like they would prefer to deprive the administration of a victory, even if it comes at the expense of the American people."

Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn said "it really is frustrating" that Republicans in the Senate keep calling for House Democrats to bring up the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, but it hasn't happened yet. She said people in logistics say to her: "Why can't you get this done?"

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and a former U.S. trade representative, said, "I hear about it all the time," from farmers and manufacturers. "The Trump administration negotiated a good agreement. It deserves a vote."

Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, responded to the critiques.

"I understand several of my colleagues are urging for an immediate vote on the president’s new NAFTA. Setting aside the fact that there have not yet been the hearings or markups necessary to allow that to happen, it would be a major mistake for this administration to seek a vote on a trade deal until it is a good deal," he said. He said the new NAFTA has some important improvements, but still needs work, arguing "the new NAFTA carries over the weak enforcement system of the old NAFTA," and he noted that he and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, have come up with new tools to address labor rights in Mexico, "and by all accounts there has been good progress on that front."