Name: The USMCA trade deal passes the House in a rare bipartisan vote
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The USMCA trade deal passes the House in a rare bipartisan vote

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The House voted in favor of the new version of NAFTA after Democrats secured changes to labor and pharmaceuticals provisions.A bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives has approved the United States Mexico Canada Agreement () on Thursday, moving President Donald Trump’s signature trade deal one step closer to implementation.The House voted 385 to 41 to approve the USMCA, of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. A total of 193 Democrats backed the bill, succeeded in winning changes on labor, environment, enforcement, and pharmaceutical provisions. Those tweaks secured , offering Democrats a pathway to supporting the agreement.The approval of the USMCA comes a day after the House of Representatives President Trump in a historic vote. The whiplash is remarkable: On Wednesday, House Democrats delivered the strongest rebuke possible to Trump. On Thursday, they delivered him one of the most high-profile bipartisan accomplishments of his presidency.As strange as it may seem, this was partly strategic. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has long argued that Democrats can at the same time — investigating the president and pursuing impeachment without giving up their ability to legislate.A lot of the work on reaching a consensus with the USMCA predated impeachment proceedings. Democrats Robert Lighthizer, the US Trade Representative, to win concessions on labor and the environment in the USMCA, and Lighthizer he wanted to get bipartisan support for the Trump trade agenda, something which seemed near-impossible at the start of his tenure.House Democratic leadership when they announced the changes to the USMCA last week, but Democrats, particularly those representing swing districts, wanted a legislative accomplishment to bring home if some might be at risk by voting in favor of impeachment.The USMCA was it, although it will also give Trump a boost heading into the 2020 election. In 2016, Trump , which he called He achieved this with the USMCA — even if he’s overselling just a bit. That hasn’t stopped the White House from calling itTrump would probably describe the USMCA this way on the campaign trail whether it’s approved by Congress and not. At least now Democrats have won concessions.Still, the USMCA is not a perfect deal. Environmental groups , and are still opposed. But legislation rarely gets bipartisan support, particularly when it comes to trade.The USMCA will move to the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said lawmakers in January — though he said this before Pelosi suggested she might the articles to the Senate.Even in the Senate, though, the bill is expected to get rare bipartisan backing. That support is expected from some unlikely corners, such as , who voted against the original NAFTA when he was a congressman.In October 2018, the US and Canada for a revised NAFTA. The US and Mexico , and the two had threatened to move ahead without Canada.But Ottawa and Washington hammered out their disagreements , and the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) was born. (Also known as in the north or in the south.)“NAFTA 2.0” is an updated version of the nearly 25-year-old, trillion-dollar trade agreement, with major changes on cars and new policies on labor and environmental standards, intellectual property protections, and some digital trade provisions.Here’s a brief overview:In , leaders of all three countries signed the agreement in Argentina during the G-20 conference. Then came the hard part: getting the agreement ratified in all three countries.In the US, Congress soon welcomed a new Democratic majority in the House. And, early on, Democrats suggested the USMCA didn’t go far enough on labor and environmental provisions and enforcement.The other major snag to ratification was Trump’s trade war, specifically steel and aluminum tariffs imposed on both Mexico and Canada. (Plus, those countries imposed retaliatory tariffs.)The USMCA didn’t exempt Mexico or Canada from those tariffs, which both wanted gone. They did get the US to make in USMCA that largely protects them from possible auto tariffs, but those on metals didn’t budge.Republicans, in particular, . Then, in May, the countries on steel and aluminum coming from those two countries. That eliminated a major hurdle to ratification in all three countries.Trump almost derailed things once again, threatening Mexico with a ton of tariffs Republicans objected, so did Mexico — and eventually TrumpMexico overwhelmingly soon after that, in June 2019. The country had also begun the process to accommodate those new labor rules.The drama again turned back to US domestic politics, where Democrats on Capitol Hill insisted on stronger enforcement of in the USMCA, along with beefing up of environmental protections and drug provisions and enforcement.In June, House Democrats , to work with the administration on those demands. (As for Canada, it was mostly waiting for the US to get its act together before it took up the deal.)The Democrats and the Trump administration largely remained at an impasse, and it soon turned into a talking point from Trump and his GOP allies, who accused the, all sides started to make some progress in the fall, though in fits and starts. , Mexico, House Democrats, and Lighthizer were furiously trying to come to an agreement on tougher labor standards.On the US side, Democrats wanted the support of unions — specifically Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the United States, who initially opposed the deal. All of this was happening as the House pursued impeachment against the president. It that Democrats in swing districts wanted to pass the USMCA.In December, barely an hour after the House Democrats announced articles of impeachment against Trump, they also announced that they’d reached a new USMCA deal with the Trump administration. Trumka endorsed the revised version — the first trade deal the AFL-CIO has backed“There is no question, of course, that this trade agreement is much better than NAFTA,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi . “But in terms of our work here, it is infinitely better than what was initially proposed by the administration.”That same day, Lighthizer flew to Mexico City to meet with his counterparts from Mexico and CanadaMexico gave up the most in this latest iteration of the USMCA, although the trade deal also means the most for the country. Mexico had already agreed to changes in its laws, but Democrats and labor unions wanted better enforcement mechanisms.The updated USMCA will include this that calls for an independent, three-person panel of multinational, independent experts who will make sure Mexico is abiding by its union rules and other protections.These panels can request to visit sites, if there’s an allegation that the company is violating labor rules. The US will also dispatch labor attaché from its embassy to work with its Mexican counterparts to help them achieve the labor reform goals.Shortly after Democrats announced the deal, Mexico started pushing back on the deal (though it had already approved the changes), claiming they’d been about the US sending inspectors to its factories.The issue seemed to be those labor attachés (), though Lighthizer responded to Mexico’s concerns by basically saying these attachés were their just to help Mexico with its labor rules, and wouldn’t be inspectors. That explanation seemed to satisfy Mexico,Another big win for Democrats included the removal of a certain rule involving pharmaceuticals. The original USMCA extended the period that certain drugs (known as “biologics”) can be protected from generic competition to 10 years. Democrats , saying it could potentially thwart future efforts to lower the cost of some prescription drugs. That provision has now been totally removed from the USMCA.Democrats also got some other wins, including stricter rules on steel that can be used in car production and the strengthening of state-to-state dispute settlements rules, which didn’t work very well under the original NAFTA.They also beefed up some environmental provisions, including creating an interagency committee that will monitor environmental concerns in the three countries, and recommend enforcement actions — though it’s not clear what.While these are slight improvements, green groups to address climate change or to effectively punish polluters. Many environmental organizations are still advocating against the bill, even with these updates.So the USMCA definitely doesn’t satisfy everyone, and even some unions, such as the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, continue to oppose the deal.The USMCA covers more than a trillion in trade, and having a set replacement for NAFTA will end uncertainty for businesses. According to the US government’s (which came out in April, before the new revisions) the benefits from the USMCA are modest: a .35 percent increase in GDP and just 176,000 jobs gained.And even then, some of the consequences of the USMCA, are uncertain. Stricter labor standards are designed to de-incentivize manufacturers from seeking cheaper labor in Mexico, but it seems unlikely that jobs will be flooding back to the US.The country of origin rules for automobiles might also make manufacturing cars more expensive, since it’s designed to stop factories from outsourcing for cheaper materials. Some factories may also decline to manufacture more parts in North America, and just pay the tariff, which is only 2.5 percent.Or, companies might decide it’s just cheaper to make certain cars elsewhere — which may backfire. Either way, it could make some automobiles more expensive for consumers, too.But the final vote showed that both Democrats and Republicans in the House are willing to accept this version of the USMCA. Now it heads to the Senate, where it’s likely to pass as well, although House members would probably prefer not to wait until 2020.Canada also hasn’t ratified the deal yet, and likely won’t consider it until the new year. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lost his parliamentary majority this fall, but still has power through a minority government. He might , but , Canada is likely to pass it, too.Millions turn to Vox to understand what’s happening in the news. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower through understanding. Financial contributions from our readers are a critical part of supporting our resource-intensive work and help us keep our journalism free for all.Understand how policy impacts people. Delivered Fridays.

The House voted in favor of the new version of NAFTA after Democrats secured changes to labor and pharmaceuticals provisions.A bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives has approved the United States Mexico Canada Agreement () on Thursday, moving President Donald Trump’s signature trade deal one step closer to implementation.The House voted 385 to 41 to approve the USMCA, of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. A total of 193 Democrats backed the bill, succeeded in winning changes on labor, environment, enforcement, and pharmaceutical provisions. Those tweaks secured...

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Jen Kirby

Vox is a liberal-leaning American news and opinion website owned by Vox Media. The website was founded in April 2014 by Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, and Melissa Bell, and is noted for its concept of explanatory journalism. Vox's media presence also includes a YouTube channel, several podcasts, and a show presented on Netflix.

The USMCA trade deal passes the House in a rare bipartisan vote

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