Led by Republicans….
Congress seems intent on keeping the multi-country trade agreement signed by Trump in-tact…
It appears that slowly?
The US Congress has grown tired of Trump’s economy actions and IS stepping up to the plate to keep some things that they want to continue…
As usual?
We’ll see what Donald does….
Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday signaled strong support for continuing the nearly six-year-old U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement in the face of growing concern that President Donald Trump could drop out of the deal he negotiated during his first term.
Speaking at the top of the committee’s hearing on the North American trade pact, Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) underscored that “Mexico and Canada are two of our most important trading partners.”
“This trilateral relationship should not be taken for granted,” Crapo added.
Trump, however, has raised doubts about whether his administration will back an extension of the deal, which is up for review this year. All three countries are required to decide by July 1 whether they want to renew the USMCA for another 16 years. If not, they are expected to continue negotiations until they resolve any outstanding concerns or the pact terminates in 2036.
In the worst-case scenario, any country could withdraw from the pact with six months’ notice, an option the administration has refused so far to take off the table.
During a trip last month to Detroit, Trump said it was “irrelevant” to him whether the United States stayed in the agreement or not. Bloomberg also reported on Wednesday that Trump was privately mulling whether to withdraw from the pact.
No Republicans endorsed that idea at Thursday’s hearing.
Crapo noted a public comment period and set of hearings conducted by the administration showed widespread support from business and agricultural groups for continuation of the pact, which Trump negotiated to replace the 1990s-era North American Free Trade Agreement.
“Many of those public comments and testimony conveyed the singular importance of business certainty, which is best achieved by a timely conclusion to the review and extension of the agreement,” Crapo said.
Other Republicans on the panel echoed that support, while also embracing the Trump administration’s efforts to address problems and new issues that have arisen since the deal was negotiated.
“In my humble opinion, the USMCA trade agreement has been the most important, the most successful trade agreement of my lifetime,” Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) said.
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) pressed former House Ways and Means Chair Kevin Brady (R-Texas), one of the hearing’s witnesses, about the costs if Trump refused to commit to a 16-year renewal in July.
“I think that uncertainty couldn’t come at a worse time,” said Brady, who co-chairs a tri-national pro-USMCA business coalition. “I think it would lower the economic value of that agreement, certainly to America. Right now, this agreement is working for the U.S., Mexico and Canada, because it incentivizes long-term investment in North America. That’s what’s driving the jobs, certainly driving competitiveness.”
Ted Vander Schaaf, an Idaho dairy farmer, was more blunt about the impact of withdrawal on the U.S. agricultural sector, which is highly dependent on export sales to the two North American neighbors.
“If we were to lose this agreement, it would be devastating to our rural communities,” Vander Schaaf said, while noting there are many improvements he would like to see in the dairy portion of the agreement with both Canada and Mexico.
Most Democrats on the panel also signaled support for continuing the agreement, which Congress passed in Trump’s first term with large bipartisan votes…
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