Both the Whitehouse and Democratic lawmakers were celebrating victory last week after reaching an agreement on a new tri-lateral trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. The United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) was first signed by the leaders of these three countries last November and is now in the process of being ratified by the countries' legislatures. It was officially passed in the U.S. House on Thursday and has already been agreed upon by Mexico's Senate.
The USMCA is an updated version of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a deal which eliminated trade barriers between the three nations. The agreement was reached after more than a year of deadlock in negotiations.
The deal is meant to improve upon NAFTA which many Republicans saw as a "job killer" and blamed for businesses moving to countries south of the U.S. border. Democrats have been divided on NAFTA but agree that the USMCA is a vast improvement. The agreement opens new markets to American goods and reduces the cost of everyday necessities like drugs and groceries. It also includes provisions designed to bring manufacturers back north by requiring 40% to 45% of cars be made in countries that pay at least $16 per hour, meaning the U.S. and Canada. The agreement also includes a tariff on cars with less than 75% of their parts made in North America.
The deal is being hailed as a major victory for the working class. The USMCA included higher labor standards for Mexico as well as mechanisms to enforce those standards. However, some of the lawmakers who pushed for the labor improvements in Mexico feel that workers in Mexico won't be the only ones who benefit. As Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., put it "the agreement... [ensures] that Mexican workers' rights are protected" in order to "prevent a race to the bottom and level the playing field" for American workers.
Despite the volatility surrounding impeachment, lawmakers came together in a bipartisan effort to get this agreement finished. However, the process wasn't easy. Both parties had conditions they wanted to be included in the deal and compromises were made. Now, both parties are claiming this as a win, but it arguably is a much larger win for Republicans. Getting this deal passed will be a major victory for President Donald Trump and something which he will undoubtedly talk about frequently on the campaign trail in 2020. As the President said in a tweet, "It will be the best and most important trade deal ever made by the USA."
However, based on the contents of the deal itself, many lawmakers seem to feel Democrats won this fight. "We ate their lunch," Nancy Pelosi told fellow democratic lawmakers in a closed-door meeting. Some GOP members like Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey feel the agreement lies too far left saying its a "step backward" for free trade. Most lawmakers agree that the USMCA is better than its predecessor.
The deal met a momentary obstacle later in the week when the Mexican government accused the U.S. government of "blindsiding" them by including provisions to send U.S. attaches to monitor labor conditions in Mexico. The labor practices of Mexico have been some of the most problematic sticking points in the treaty negotiation. Democrats and American unions wanted a guarantee that the new union-friendly labor-law in Mexico will be enforced. In the past, unions in Mexico have largely been controlled by businesses and politicians who limited workers' wages. This complaint emerged only after Mexico's Senate voted overwhelmingly to approve the USMCA, and critics in Mexico now blame negotiators for being "tricked". According to Mexico's head negotiator, however, these attaches aren't a problem because "Mexican law doesn't allow them."
The agreement was passed in the House on Thursday 385 to 41 with bipartisan support. The majority of the votes against, 38 to be exact, were made by Democratic lawmakers. The agreement will now go to the Senate to be voted on early next year. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that the vote may have to wait until after the impeachment trial.
