Senator Chuck Grassley announcing a planned hearing regarding the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Grassley, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, says the committee will hear testimony from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. The committee will hold the hearing, “The President’s 2019 Trade Policy Agenda and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement,” next Tuesday morning.
Following meetings with House of Representatives leadership, Grassley says that he expects demands from Democrats in the House can be worked out. The House must consider the agreement before the Senate can vote on ratification.
Meanwhile, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland is meeting with Lighthizer this week, focusing on ratifying USMCA. President Trump also sided with a group of more than 950 agribusinesses and organizations, calling on lawmakers to quickly pass the agreement once formally submitted to Congress. Trump, on Twitter, says “our patriot farmers and rural America have spoken,” saying “now Congress must do its job” by passing the USMCA agreement.