Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced the House Democrats have decided to support President Donald Trump’s new NAFTA deal.
Pelosi could not help but take a shot at Trump. She described the new deal as “infinitely better than what was originally proposed by the administration.”
The new version called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, “will replace Nafta when ratified and contains provisions aimed at creating more manufacturing jobs, for example, by increasing the proportion of vehicles that must originate in North America for the cars and trucks to receive duty-free treatment.”
The Wall Street Journal has more:
It also includes updated labor rules and beefed-up enforcement provisions to hold firms in Mexico to account on labor, according to people familiar with the emerging deal.USMCA had long been supported by Republicans and leading business trade groups but opposed by Democrats over concerns such as the legal language enforcing new labor rules. The Democratic approval Monday comes as a rare bipartisan moment of cooperation on economic policy at a time when Capitol Hill is divided over the impeachment inquiry. Earlier Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee said it would pursue two articles of impeachment against President Trump.
The text of the deal did not come out, but the Democrats said it has “facility-based enforcement of labor obligations.” It does not have “a reference to ‘inspectors,’ a sensitive issue for Mexico, which rejected efforts for Washington to inspect its facilities for potential labor violations.”
It also eliminates “rules designed to protect biologic drugs from generic imitators for a minimum of 10 years.”
Pelosi wanted to take out “liability protections for online content, language backed by technology firms.” That protection remains in the bill.
The vote in the House will come next week before it heads to the Senate. A GOP aide said the Senate may not take it up until January.
Congress adjourns for the holidays on December 20.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said officials from America, Canada, and Mexico will sign the amended version on Tuesday.
The three countries agreed on a version last year, but the House Democrats dismissed it.
Trump applauded the new deal earlier this morning:
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