BREAKING: USMCA Vote by End of Year
Speaker Pelosi suggests a vote on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement by the end of the year
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced today that she is optimistic the new US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) could be finalized and voted on by the end of the year. The proposed new deal would update the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to include digital trade, which did not exist in the 1990s, and provide U.S. agriculture greater access to Canadian markets.
Four issues remain to be resolved, but negotiations between a House working group and the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on labor rights, pricing for biologic product by pharmaceutical companies, environmental protections and overall enforcement provisions are close to conclusion. Congressman Richard Neal (D-MA), Chairman of the Ways & Means Committee, and lead negotiator for the House believe they are “one or two meetings” away from reaching an agreement on these outstanding issues. Enforcement and labor are the remaining sticking points.
