Senior U.S. House Democrat says new North America trade deal must change

新华社| 2018-11-15 15:50:08|Editor: xuxin
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WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's new trade deal with Canada and Mexico needs to be changed in order to gain support from the Democrats, a senior House Democrat said Wednesday.

New Jersey Representative Bill Pascrell, who is positioned to chair the Ways and Means Trade subcommittee in the House of Representatives, said there needs to be "not only changes in the legislation but more enforcement" if the Trump administration wants the deal to be passed in the House, which was retaken by Democrats in the midterm election.

Pascrell, who could have a big say on trade policy in the new Congress, said strong enforcement mechanisms are needed, especially over labor and environmental rules, though the majority of the deal could remain as it is.

Democratic lawmakers have repeatedly complained that the new deal doesn't have strong enough enforcement mechanisms to ensure that Mexico implements tougher labor rules to guarantee a reasonable wage.

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), reached a month ago among the three countries, still needs to be ratified by lawmakers from the three countries. It resulted from talks on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) begining in August 2017.

Trump threatened to withdraw from the NAFTA, claiming that it harmed U.S. industries and jobs.

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