Trump administration: We’ll convince Congress to ratify USMCA

Washington —  The Donald Trump administration said Monday that it will “convince” Congress to ratify the newly renegotiated USMCA trade accord designed to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement among the US, Mexico and Canada.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo articulated that commitment by the administration during an interview with The Hill newspaper.

Pompeo rejected the idea of setting a date for the approval of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement but he said that he personally will work with lawmakers in Congress “to convince them that this is the right path forward for Canada, for the United States, for Mexico” and to ensure that they ratify the agreement.

“It’s the right thing to do for our national security relationships with those two countries,” said Pompeo, and although he refused to predict which way lawmakers would vote he said he would work to see that they support the aims of the Trump Administration and get the USMCA “across the finish line.”

Pompeo’s remarks come after Trump himself threatened to close the border with Mexico in retaliation for the arrival of migrant caravans from Central America - specifically Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala - after traversing Mexican territory on their way to the US.

In early April, Trump backed off from his threat to close the border, but he said that Mexico will have one year to halt the flow of illegal drugs to the US or he would impose tariffs of 25 percent on the imports of automobiles assembled in that country.

The US, Mexico and Canada signed the USMCA on Nov. 30, but it needs to be ratified by the national legislatures of the three countries to fully enter into force.

Among the changes incorporated into the USMCA is the stipulation that at least 75 percent of the components of automobiles assembled in the three countries must be made in North America, up from 62.5 percent in NAFTA, which entered into force in 1994.

However, one of the main obstacles in the trade relationship among Mexico, the US and Canada are the tariffs Trump imposed on US imports of steel (25 percent) and aluminum (10 percent) from those countries.

Canada and Mexico expected the US to lift those tariffs when the accord was signed but Washington made no such move.

In an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley said on Sunday that Trump should lift those tariffs so that Congress can approve the USMCA.

“If these tariffs aren’t lifted, USMCA is dead. There is no appetite in Congress to debate USMCA with these tariffs in place,” said Grassley, who is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, president pro tempore of the Senate and one of the most important voices in the legislative debate on the pact.