Commerce Secretary Ross Floats Hope for Spring USMCA Approval

While most U.S. officials are not willing to put any timeline on the potential approval of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is not one of them. He told a gathering of U.S. governors Monday afternoon that the USMCA would get a vote in Congress “hopefully this spring” — and he pledged the Trump administration would work to ensure its approval. “It will generate a new era of North American investment,” he said. “And we will be doing everything in our power to make sure it is approved by the U.S. Congress.” However, the presence of the steel and aluminum import duties on Mexico and Canada and their retaliatory responses against U.S. products, including agricultural goods, has many in Congress reluctant to support the deal at this stage. Plus, the administration has yet to provide the implementing legislation to Congress, a step that must precede the eventual up-or-down vote in Congress with no amendments allowed.