U.S. SENATE PASSES ‘NEW NAFTA’ PACT
United States-Mexico-Canada deal aims to spur more U.S.based car production, bolster Mexican workers’ rights.
WASHINGTON — The Senate overwhelmingly approved a new North American trade agreement Thursday that rewrites the rules of trade with Canada and Mexico and gives President Donald Trump a major policy win before senators turn their full attention to his impeachment trial. The vote was 89-10.
The measure goes to Trump for his signature. It would replace the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, known as NAFTA, which tore down most trade barriers and triggered a surge in trade. But Trump and other critics blamed that pact for encouraging U.S. companies to move their manufacturing plants south of the border to take advantage of low-wage Mexican laborers.
Passage of the trade bill came one day after Trump signed a new trade agreement with China.
Trump campaigned in 2016 on ripping up trade deals that he said added to the nation’s trade deficit and cost the country manufacturing jobs.
Mexico has approved the revised trade deal. Canada is expected to do so in coming months.
The agreement aims to have more cars produced in the U.S. It also secured changes that require Mexico to change its laws to make it easier for workers to form independent unions.
While the administration completed its negotiations with Canada and Mexico more than a year ago, Democrats in the House insisted on changes that they said made it more likely Mexico would follow through on its commitments.
The AFL-CIO, an association of trade unions, endorsed the measure, as did scores of business and farm groups. The biggest holdouts were environmental groups, which continue their opposition, saying the deal doesn’t address climate change.