House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Tuesday that an agreement had been reached to move USMCA towards passage. Pelosi took credit for crafting the deal, but Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said it was U.S. trade negotiators that finally broke an agreement between the U.S. and Mexico.
“Ambassador Lighthizer was working very hard last week, and hopefully we’ve gotten some resolution between what the enforceability provisions that had been wanted by some and Mexico,” said Perdue.
Perdue said it was the issue of enforceability of the agreement that was the final sticking point.
“Honestly I think these enforceability arguments have been more of a smokescreen of a delay than anything else,” he said.
Washington sources say the House could pass the final trade agreement before the Christmas recess.