Edgard Garrido/Reuters
The House passed the new North American trade deal on Thursday after more than a year of negotiations, delivering a major post-impeachment victory to President Trump. The passage of a revised pact to replace NAFTA, renamed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), was one of Trump’s main economic and political campaign promises. The compromise was stalled for months in part because House Democrats were not satisfied with the revisions regarding the protections of unions and workers’ rights in Mexico. The chamber approved the agreement overwhelmingly with a 385-41 vote, and the deal now moves to the Senate, where it is expected to be signed off in 2020. “This is the first-ever trade coalition of workers, farmers, Republicans, Democrats, business and agriculture groups, organized labor and much more,” said Trumps’ chief trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer, in a statement following the bipartisan victory.
Many Democrats and Republicans have boasted about the new three-nation deal, which Trump is likely to champion as he campaigns for re-election in 2020. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly attempted to distance the agreement from the impeachment proceedings. Pelosi reportedly shot down questions from reporters on Thursday about Trump’s impeachment, saying, “Anybody care about that? Jobs for the American people?”