U.S. House approves new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade pact
Schakowsky touts drug concessions, Garcia casts only Ill. vote against
U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, Illinois Farm Bureau President Richard Guebert Jr., and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speak this summer in Springfield. (Facebook/Illinois Farm Bureau)
By Ted Cox
The controversial new trade pact between the United States, Mexico, and Canada cleared the U.S. House Thursday after concessions were added on labor regulations and drug prices.
If passed by the Senate and given final approval by all three nations, the U.S.-Mexico-Canda Agreement, or USMCA, would replace the Clinton-era North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.
It passed with overwhelming bipartisan support by a vote of 385-41. U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia of Chicago, a Mexico native, cast the only vote in opposition in the Illinois delegation.
The new trade pact is considered a boon to Illinois farmers and manufacturers. Richard Guebert Jr., president of the Illinois Farm Bureau, cheered the vote, as according to a story on FarmWeekNow.com Illinois farmers export 40 percent of their corn, 34 percent of their pork, and 13 percent of their beef to the two neighboring nations.
“We are ecstatic to see the bipartisan efforts by House leadership and the Trump administration to negotiate this important deal,” Guebert said. “The USMCA is an updated, modern trade deal with two of U.S. agriculture’s top three trading partners.”
The other, however, is China, which continues to engage in a trade war launched last year by President Trump that remains unresolved.
But officials across the political and business spectrums applauded Thursday’s House passage, which should be followed by approval in the Senate early next year.
"We give our sincere thanks to Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her time in meeting with our organization, U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos and other state legislators over the summer, and ultimately her sustained efforts and success to bring USMCA to a vote before the end of the year," Guebert said.
“Illinois farmers and workers deserve the strongest possible trade deal. Thanks to changes secured by House Democrats, USMCA is that deal,” said Bustos, who represents the Quad Cities and surrounding farm counties. “No agreement is ever perfect, but this legislation addresses the needs of the district while delivering the strongest trade enforcement mechanisms our country has ever seen. Throughout the months of negotiation, I worked to help chart a path forward that would serve all Illinoisans. I’m proud Congress secured a deal that will help all sectors of our region’s economy prosper.”
Pelosi said this summer in a visit to Illinois that the original trade pact negotiated by the Trump administration “isn’t ready,” and she specifically mentioned “workers’ rights in all of the countries involved, but making sure America’s working families get a fair shake,” as well as environmental regulations.
The amended deal allows the United States to send diplomatic attaches to Mexico to oversee labor regulations. Mexico’s lead trade negotiator initially balked at the amendment, but the country appeared to agree to it this week.
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Evanston said drug concessions were critical as well. “The Trump administration tried to tuck in huge gifts to Big Pharma that would have raised medicine prices throughout the hemisphere,” she said on the House floor. “From Day One of our negotiations, I insisted that the biologics-exclusivity provision be removed. Today it’s gone.”
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The Trump administration tried to tuck in huge gifts to Big Pharma that would have raised medicine prices throughout the hemisphere.”
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (One Illinois/Ted Cox)
The original language would have given pharmaceutical companies a decade of exclusive licensing before generic knock-offs could be made available to patients.
The labor concessions, however, weren’t good enough for Garcia, who warned they wouldn’t relieve the immigration crisis at the southern border. “After careful deliberation and many conversations with labor leaders, environmental experts, and advisers in my community and Mexico, I have decided to vote against the USMCA,” he said in a statement. “My parents’ generation worked in good manufacturing jobs in Chicago and I saw the devastation caused by job losses resulting from the 1992 North American Free Trade Agreement. Working conditions and wages for Mexican workers have stagnated, thus contributing to increased pressures to migrate. I hoped the USMCA would significantly improve on the inadequate labor and environmental protections in NAFTA. While I appreciate the work of USMCA negotiators, the final version of the agreement fails to reverse the harm to North American workers caused by NAFTA.”
Garcia also raised concerns on big tech companies and consumer privacy.
Others welcomed passage on both sides of the political aisle.
“Trade deals are only good when they benefit Illinois farmers, workers, and businesses,” said U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly of Matteson, whose district stretches into farm communities south of Chicago. “After rounds of critical negotiations and revisions, I’m confident that the newly revised USMCA will grow the economy and opportunity in Illinois.”
“The passage of the USMCA today is long overdue, but a big win for the American people and our economy,” added U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Channahon. “Bringing this trade deal into the 21st century will give our workers, farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and innovators a chance to compete in the international market and allowing for better digital trade opportunities. The USMCA will also create 176,000 new jobs in America and produce over $68 billion in new economic activity.”