Congressional USMCA negotiations continue

According to media reports, President Trump is now expected to send the United States – Mexico – Canada Agreement (USMCA) to Congress after Sept. 1, giving working groups of democrats in the House of Representative more time to address their concerns with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. The administration is attempting to avoid a situation like that which occurred in 2007 when President George W. Bush sent a free-trade deal with Columbia to Congress without House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s blessing. The deal finally passed five years later after it was renegotiated by then-President Barack Obama.

To encourage approval of the agreement, the USMCA Coalition coordinated a social media outreach day July 10. Businesses and individuals leveraged their social media channels to reach elected officials with messages of support, using the hashtag #USMCANow. Posts addressed the positive impact the USMCA will have on U.S. jobs, manufacturing, agriculture, the service economy, export growth, small business, intellectual property and the digital economy.