USMCA Recommended by Senate Finance Committee on 25-3 Vote

The Senate Finance Committee has recommended the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement come up for a vote in the Senate as a whole, voting 25-3 Jan. 7 to advance the deal. Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters that the USMCA implementing bill also has to get buy-in from the Budget, Environment and Commerce committees, though they don't have to hold mark-up hearings, as the Finance Committee did. He predicted that if the articles of impeachment aren't sent over to the Senate yet, “by next week, for sure,” there would be a floor vote, but if the articles arrive, he said, it could be the end of January before a vote.

Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, one of two Republicans on the committee to vote against USMCA, said, “It’s the first time we’re ever going to go backward on a trade agreement,” because it aims to reduce trade in cars between Mexico and the U.S. by forcing some production into the U.S. through the wage provisions in the rule of origin.

Two other Republicans said they sympathize with the criticisms Toomey made -- including backing away from requiring Canada and Mexico to extend patents on biologic drugs -- but that on balance, the trade deal deserves their votes.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who noted that his vote for USMCA will be his first ever vote for a trade agreement in his 27-year career, said the Mexican minimum wage is $6.50 a day. “A day, not an hour. We've been asking American workers to compete with that. We've already heard some critics say that Brown-Wyden [labor enforcement] will force Mexican wages to rise. To that, I plead guilty. That's the entire point, to take away the incentive for American companies to shut down production in Mansfield, Cleveland and Dayton and move those jobs to Mexico.” While he acknowledged that the new NAFTA won't bring jobs back, he expects it will slow the outsourcing trend to Mexico.

Brown grew up in Mansfield, Ohio, a post-industrial town that once had brass and steel mills, appliance plants that made irons, radios, washers, dryers, refrigerators, stoves and water heaters, and in a suburb, a General Motors plant. He now lives in the Cleveland region.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said he is voting no because the investor-state dispute settlement provisions in Mexico's energy sector only apply to companies that directly contract with the Mexican government, which he said disadvantages small companies that subcontract for the big players.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., was the only no voter on the Democratic side, and said he had to vote no because “this agreement does not reflect a sense of urgency ... about the climate calamities that are unfolding.”

Toomey complained that because the House of Representatives has already passed USMCA, the Senate can't make any amendments to it. He argued that fast track should not apply to USMCA, since the pact's final language was released Dec. 11. Grassley does not agree.

Toomey said that if he had the ability to suggest an amendment, he would require that both the House and Senate vote to have USMCA expire at the time of the sunset review.

There is a requirement for the executive branch to seek public comments on the sunset review, and to consult with Congress, but no approval from the Finance Committee or Ways and Means Committee is needed for the president to tell Mexico and Canada that the U.S. wants to exit the trade deal.