The results of the midterm election may have hurt President Trump’s chances of quickly completing the new NAFTA.
Now, a Democratic-controlled House must approve the renamed U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA.
The future of the president’s deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, is now a little more complicated.
Democrats took back the majority in the House, meaning a divided Congress will consider the USMCA.
In a post-midterms press conference, President Trump praised the agreement, saying it will keep jobs in the United States.
“Now is the time for members of both parties to join together and keep the American economic miracle going strong,” said President Trump.
But it’s not yet clear if a Democratic House will be willing to sign off on the President’s deal.
“We have a President who has tweeted us into a trade war.”
Democratic Congresswoman Cheri Bustos says the USMCA looks promising on the surface but lawmakers need more details before making a decision.
“Family farmers are hurting right now,” said Representative Bustos. “We’ve got to work our way through this. It’s a totally unnecessary trade war.”
She says the President made the USMCA announcement without input from Congress.
“We’ve seen way too much of that,” said Representative Bustos. “There are these grandiose announcements and then we don’t see anything implemented.”
But the U.S. Trade Rep is confident congress will approve the USMCA. In a statement a spokesperson said in part: “from the beginning, Ambassador Lighthizer has worked closely with Democrats and Republicans. The USMCA is a balanced deal.”
In the end, Political Expert Gary Nordlinger expects Democrats to agree to the new deal.
“The Dems were never wild about the NAFTA to begin with,” said Nordlinger.
The leaders of all three countries are expected to sign the deal before December 1 and Congress will take it up in the new year.