House Democrats submit counteroffer on new NAFTA, advancing talks

House Democrats submitted a counteroffer on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, indicating progress on the stalled trade deal.

The White House has made the update to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) one of its central legislative priorities, but Democrats said they wanted improvements on issues pertaining to enforcement, labor, environment and pharmaceuticals.

Lighthizer has held regular meetings with House Democrats and submitted a revised version of the plan to them earlier in September. He met with Democrats again Friday morning.

{mosads}Earlier this week, he expressed optimism at the prospects of striking a deal.

“We expect to get there,” he said.

“The Democrats have asked for specific and sensible things that they want assurances on. We should modify this legislation to accommodate their needs. This should be a bipartisan bill. It should be something where there are wins for the president and there are wins for the Speaker and for the Democrats,” he added.

Lawmakers see the coming months as the last chance to push through a deal, worrying that 2020 presidential politics would make it impossible to pass after the new year.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also mentioned progress on the agreement this week amid the political storm surrounding her support of an official impeachment inquiry into President Trump.

“In case anyone is interested, we’re moving ahead on USMCA,” Pelosi said amid a slew of impeachment-related questions at her weekly press conference Thursday.

“We hope to be on a continued path to ‘yes,’ ” she added.