Visits: 16
Nancy Pelosi (right), speaker of the United States of House of Representatives with Richard Neal (left,) Chair to the House Ways and Means Committee.
Liam McBurney | PA Images | Getty Images
House Democrats and the Trump administration did not come to an agreement on moving forward with President Donald Trump’s new North American trade deal during a meeting Thursday.
Lawmakers and the White House have worked for weeks to resolve Democratic concerns about enforcement tools for labor and environmental standards under the deal, known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Leaving a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal said the sides made progress but did not strike a final agreement, his office confirmed.
However, he said it is “possible” the House could vote on USMCA, Trump’s replacement for NAFTA, by the end of the year. Before the Democrats huddle with Lighthizer, Pelosi told reporters that “I’m not even sure if we came to an agreement today that it would be enough time to finish” before 2020.
Spokespeople for Pelosi and USTR did not immediately respond to requests to comment on the meeting.
Pelosi and Neal’s meeting with Trump’s trade representative follows talks with a key labor leader earlier this week. Following a Tuesday meeting with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, Pelosi said “we can reach an agreement on USMCA when the Trade Representative makes the new NAFTA agreement enforceable for America’s workers.”
Their meeting with Trumka came a day after the labor leader said “we are not there yet” on an agreement. He added that “we cannot and support any deal that does not deliver for working people.”
Trump has pushed to ratify the deal by the end of the year. Revamping NAFTA, which he railed against as a job killer, has been one of the president’s top economic and political priorities ahead of the 2020 election.
The Trump administration needs to submit ratifying legislation to Congress for the House to move forward with approving the agreement. Once the White House submits text, it starts a 90-day window to approve USMCA.
Labor groups and Democrats have worried the agreement will not go far enough to boost wages in Mexico and stop U.S. companies from moving jobs south.
Many business organizations have pushed for swift ratification of the deal as they seek certainty in the two largest U.S. export markets. The U.S. sent about $300 billion and $265 billion in goods to Canada and Mexico, respectively, last year.