WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that a deal between House Democrats and the Trump administration over changes to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is "imminent".
"We are moving positively in terms of the USMCA. Again, it all comes down to enforcement," Pelosi said during her weekly news conference, "I do believe that if we can get this to the place it needs to be, which is imminent, that this can be a template for future trade agreements."
House Democrats have been working for months with Trump administration officials to negotiate changes to the USMCA in four main areas: labor, environment, enforcement and prescription drug provisions, according to U.S. media.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and House Democrats could reach a handshake agreement within the next two weeks, before lawmakers head home for Thanksgiving, POLITICO reported on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the ongoing negotiations.
But Richard Trumka, president of AFL-CIO, the largest labor federation in the United States, has warned House Democrats not to expedite approval of the USMCA.
"We have shared values with the AFL-CIO ... I think we will see what the implementation is and what the enforcement is, and I think it will be a value that's shared by our friends in labor as well as the Democrats in Congress," Pelosi said, adding that she would like to see the deal pass Congress this year.
"I'd like to see us get it done this year. I mean, that would be my goal. I don't imagine that it would take much more in the Senate to pass," she said.
