The House tax-writing committee advanced a rewrite of the North American trade deal Tuesday, blessing a campaign trophy for President Trump even as majority Democrats move to impeach him as an abuser of his office.
Lawmakers approved the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement by voice vote, clearing the way for a floor vote Thursday. Senate Republican leaders have said their chamber won’t act on the deal until January.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal said the final agreement hits a “high-water mark” for trade deals.
“I’m very proud of the outcome we’ve reached,” the Massachusetts Democrat said.
In some ways, Tuesday’s markup was like entering a parallel world set apart from the partisan impeachment furor that will culminate with a House vote Wednesday and likely Senate trial on whether to oust Mr. Trump from office.
Lawmakers on both sides of the committee dais praised the USMCA as a win for workers and mature governing.
Rep. Kevin Brady, Texas Republican, said Democrats worked “in good faith” with U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer on a deal that goes beyond “leftist” ideas.
“This is a trade agreement that is all about growth,” he said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Trump administration finalized the deal after Democrats secured concessions on labor standards, environmental rules and pharmaceutical provisions.
Democrats also took credit for ensuring the deal would be more enforceable than the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.
“In the past 25 years, we’ve seen the shortcoming of the original agreement, much of which comes down to a lack of enforcement, in my view. House Democrats fixed that issue,” Mr. Neal said.
Mr. Trump and his Republican allies characterized the delay as dithering that allowed a flawed NAFTA deal to stay in place and stifle economic potential. The president made his rewrite a top priority after pledging in 2016 that he would renegotiate trade deals stacked against American workers, in particular NAFTA, which he ridiculed as the “worst trade deal ever.”
For months, Mr. Trump said his deal would deliver great things for the American people but that “do-nothing Democrats” were too consumed by hatred of him to put it on the floor. He says it is incredible that he’s being impeached over his interactions with Ukraine even as the stock market soars and he secures trade agreements with U.S. neighbors and China.
The USMCA deal would prevent Canada from undercutting U.S. dairy farmers on price and require auto manufacturers to use more materials from North American countries. Among other measures, it would streamline the customs process and include digital provisions that forbid tariffs on items such as e-books.
All three North American nations must ratify the deal before it replaces NAFTA as binding policy.
Mexican negotiators said they were caught off-guard by last-minute changes that would install U.S. inspectors in their country, but they reportedly have gotten over their objections.
While lawmakers largely agreed on the substance of the deal, some Republicans did complain about the timing.
Rep. Jason Smith, Missouri Republican, said Democrats appeared to wait on the deal to soften blowback from their impeachment vote Wednesday.
“That’s unfortunate,” he said. “Seems to me that it’s very political.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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