WASHINGTON.— The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved the new North American trade agreement, sending one of the top legislative priorities of President Donald Trump to the Oval Office.
With 89 votes in favor and 10 against, the Senate sent the Agreement between the US, Mexico and Canada (USMCA), to the White House, where Trump plans to sign it next week.
The vote in the full Senate was a rare occasion for bipartisan collaboration, as the Upper House is immersed in a thorny political trial against Trump.
Nine Democratic senators voted against, including minority leader Chuck Schumer and former presidential candidates, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, as well as a Republican.
The independent Vermont senator and Democratic presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, also voted against, considering that the pact still lacks sufficient labor safeguards and will not stop the posting of jobs to Mexico.
The trilateral pact has already been ratified by Mexico, and only the approval of the Canadian government for its implementation is lacking.
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The pact, negotiated in the midst of bitter partisan disputes over more than 14 months, had already passed its first litmus test in the House of Representatives, where it received a vote of 385-41 on December 19.
In fact, the House of Representatives, under democratic control, approved the agreement after the opposition achieved significant modifications with the inclusion of labor and environmental clauses, and the strengthening of supervisory measures for the pharmaceutical industry.
"They should have included stronger clauses"
Echoing some unions that opposed the agreement, the Democratic congresswoman for Washington, Pramila Jayapal, told Telemundo News today that, although the agreement contains significant improvements over NAFTA "due to Democratic pressures," it falls short.
"The agreement is much better because we insist on those modifications, but I voted against it because I think they should have included stronger clauses," he said.
Among other elements, the new pact requires that a good part of cars be manufactured with parts made in North America, and that at least 40% of the parts come from plants where workers earn at least $ 16 per hour.
The pact also expands access to US dairy products. to the Canadian market; modifies the commercial arbitration system; and modernizes regulations around digital commerce and intellectual property protection.
In the face of his reelection efforts next November, Trump has opted for the approval of the pact as an electoral weapon, because it will also benefit states with a strong manufacturing and agricultural presence, including some under Republican control.
In that sense, the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, said on Twitter that the agreement "is a big win" for his state because it will help create jobs.
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Trump won the presidency in 2016 with a nationalist rhetoric and full of promises to defend the interests of the United States and the ordinary citizen. Thus, Trump promised to modify the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA, or NAFTA) or withdraw entirely from that pact, implemented in 1994.
The president has always insisted that the old pact was the "worst trade agreement ever negotiated" because, in his opinion, it greatly hurt American businesses and farmers. Their replacement, known for its Spanish acronym as T-MEC, will bring them more and better opportunities in the international arena, according to the White House.
The approval of the pact came a day after Trump signed with China the first phase of a new agreement with that Asian country, with which he has also had commercial disputes.
However, the new trade agreement will not have the impact that the White House wants on the country's economic growth.
The United States International Trade Commission said in a report that the pact will have at most a moderate impact on the economy, by creating 175,700 full-time jobs, and will cause a 0.35% increase in the Gross Domestic Product.
