OK is unsure for Trump’s AFTA-NAFTA

President Trump expressed confidence Monday that his new trade deal will have Canadians and Mexicans scooping more American ice cream — but there could be a rocky road ahead to get it through Congress.

During a ceremony at the White House with U.S. and Canadian officials, Trump rolled out the U.S.Mexico-Canada Agreement, a new trade deal to replace which he said will give American farmers a “far greater” ability to export eggs, wheat, poultry and dairy products, such as ice cream, to Mexico and Canada.

The measure, which Trump called the “most balanced trade agreement in the history of our country,” would replace the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement. But for all the bluster, Trump acknowledged that USMCA still has to pass the House and Senate — which will be no Sunday stroll in the park.

“Anything you submit to Congress is trouble no matter what,” Trump said, predicting that Democrats would say, “Trump likes it so we’re not going to approve it.”

Despite the celebratory atmosphere, the President added he’s “not at all confident” Congress will pass the $1.2 trillion deal, which the administration says will boost American manufacturing and wages in addition to mint chocolate chip exports.

USMCA will likely not be taken up by Congress until after the midterms and that could pose a problem for Trump should Democrats be able to flip either the House or the Senate.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi declined to immediately endorse the the new deal, which would replace NAFTA but also replicate some of its templates.

“Democrats will closely scrutinize the text of the Trump administration’s NAFTA proposal, and look forward to further analyses and conversations with stakeholders,” Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement.

For Trump, the new deal poses vindication for his nationalistic tariffs-based approach to trade, which has roiled economic relations with China, the European Union, Canada and Mexico.

“Without tariffs, we wouldn’t be standing here,” Trump said.

Despite having finally reached the deal after weeks of tense negotiations, Trump said his administration had not yet agreed to lift tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, a contentious issue between the two neighbors.