Pence: Congress Will Pass USMCA Later This Summer

The trade agreement between the United States, Mexico, and Canada will be passed Congress later this summer, Vice President Mike Pence predicted during an extensive interview airing Friday morning.

"We are in discussions as we speak," the vice-president told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo in an interview recorded Thursday, after Pence's meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "The U.S. trade rep will be on Capitol Hill when Congress reconvenes this coming week, and in discussions with the Democratic majority about them implementing legislation."

There is much going on in Washington that people argue about, but the USMCA should be a unifying factor, said Pence.

"The USMCA will mean jobs and more growth," Pence said. "In this growing economy, if we pass and put into effect the largest trade deal in American history, we are going to see growth like we have never seen in recent memory in this country."

He added that once President Donald Trump sends the USMCA to Congress and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi puts it on the floor, "we know it'll pass."

Pelosi, however, has said that she's not sure that she'll put the USMCA on the floor, but Pence said the administration has been in regular consultations with House Democrats and Senate Republicans about what the trade agreement will mean in their districts.

Trump "drove a hard bargain" to keep American workers first in the agreement, added Pence, and he thinks as Americans learn more, the USMCA will move forward for approval later this summer.

Meanwhile, Trump has lifted tariffs on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum, and Pence said The USMCA will also remove incentives to move business operations south of the border, which will help protect American jobs and wages, said Pence.

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