OTTAWA -- The Trump administration stepped up its campaign to win support for a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico that faces congressional headwinds.
In a visit to Canada's capital, Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday the White House was making "energetic efforts" to get the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement passed through Congress this summer, calling it an "historic opportunity to strengthen the economic ties" of the three countries.
The new agreement is intended to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.
In Washington, officials submitted what's known as the draft statement of administrative intent, an early version of a document formally laying out how USMCA will affect U.S. international obligations and domestic law.
The statement doesn't commit the administration to submitting USMCA's implementing legislation, a step that would require Congress to vote on the deal in a set time period.
Rather, the document signals to lawmakers that the Trump administration wants to resolve any disagreements on the deal and send it to lawmakers if there's a path to majority votes in the House and Senate.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said the administration's procedural move was premature. "It indicates a lack of knowledge on the part of the administration on the policy and process to pass a trade agreement," she said in a statement. "We all agree that we must replace Nafta, but without real enforcement mechanisms we would be locking American workers into another bad deal."
Responding to Ms. Pelosi's remarks, Mr. Pence said, "We remain very confident that the action we take today will facilitate more discussions between our administration and the Democratic leadership in the House and the Republican leadership in the Senate."
In the administration's statement sent to congressional leaders, Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. trade representative, said that the document "does not limit our ability to find solutions to address concerns members have raised about enforcement of labor and environmental provisions of the agreement and pharmaceutical pricing."
Sharp words between President Trump and Mrs. Pelosi have raised questions about whether they could work together on legislation. Mrs. Pelosi has demanded changes to tighten enforcement of new labor provisions aimed at Mexico, and Democrats have other concerns about the environment and drug affordability.
The trade agreement requires ratification from all three nations' legislatures. The USMCA is a priority for the White House, which is looking to deliver an economic victory to voters before Mr. Trump's re-election campaign kicks into high gear.
Mr. Trump had said last week he wouldn't work with the Democrats in Congress until they stopped investigating his administration following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 election. However, in Japan this week, Mr. Trump said, "I think that we will work with them."
"We have a deal with Canada and Mexico that everybody wants," Mr. Trump said. "It's all done. And I think they probably want to be doing that."
Mr. Pence further affirmed efforts to get the agreement passed. "I want to assure you we are making energetic efforts to move approval through the Congress of the United States this summer," he said, appearing alongside Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Mr. Trudeau joked that "it took some time to get it right," but ultimately, his government was looking forward to the deal's ratification.
Canada's Liberal government on Wednesday introduced legislation that would ratify the revised version of the North American free-trade pact. The action came less than two weeks after the Trump administration lifted tariffs on the country's steel and aluminum exports. The government hasn't said when a vote would be called.
Meanwhile, the Mexican government has started the process of securing legislative approval for USMCA. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said officials would deliver the text and related documents to the Senate on Thursday afternoon, adding he was optimistic the deal will be ratified.
Welcome
