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Pelosi Seeks Trade Pact Passage by Year's End

Reuters

   WASHINGTON - U.S. House Speaker NancyPelosi on Thursday said a
   breakthrough in talks with the Trumpadministration on the trade pact
   with Mexico and Canada could beimminent and that she wanted to pass the
   deal by the end of theyear.

   "We are moving positively in terms of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement.
   Again, it all comes down to ... enforcement," shetold reporters at a
   news conference. "I do believe that if we canget this to the place it
   needs to be, which is imminent, thatthis can be a template for future
   trade agreements."

   The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), signed by
   the three countries about a year ago to replace the$1 trillion North
   American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), must bepassed by lawmakers in
   all three countries. Mexico has already ratified the new deal, while
   Canada hassaid it is waiting to move in tandem with the UnitedStates.

   The office of Canadian Foreign MinisterChrystiaFreeland was not
   immediately available for comment on Pelosi'sremarks.

   Complaints from White House

   U.S. President Donald Trump and other administrationofficials have
   complained that Pelosi and her fellowDemocrats,whocontrol the House of
   Representatives, are holding back theU.S. economy by slow-walking
   USMCA's passage.

   But a major U.S. labor leader, AFL-CIO union chiefRichardTrumka, said
   last month that the deal was unlikely to pass as is ifput to a vote in
   November, given lingering concerns about labor and other issues.

   "I'd like to see us get it done this year. That would be mygoal. I
   don't imagine that it would take much more in the Senateto pass,"
   Pelosi told reporters Thursday. Trump's fellowRepublicans control the
   U.S. Senate.

   Separately, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell,testifying
   before a House of Representatives panel, said thatthe deal's passage
   would help remove uncertainty and would bevery constructive for the
   U.S. economy.

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