On Sunday’s broadcast of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) said the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) agreement was a “complete capitulation” to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on trade.
Toomey said, “NAFTA is a free trade agreement. It is zero tariffs. It is binding and in force right now. We enacted it in legislation, so it is the law of the land. It’s a free and fair trade agreement. It’s reciprocal. Zero tariffs on all agricultural goods. This free and fair reciprocal agreement that resulted in a 500% increase in American exports, Pennsylvania exports. Some of this was unacceptable to the administration. I think we should ask the question why. The reason is because we were importing even more from Mexico than we sell to them. We have a trade deficit with Mexico. And the purpose of renegotiating NAFTA was to diminish trade with Mexico, to diminish deficit. That’s the wrong direction to go on trade.”
He continued, “So, unfortunately, USMCA is an exercise through all kinds of new provisions to diminish trade, and that’s why I hope Republicans reconsider this. We have historically recognized that we’re all better off with more open markets.”
He added, “In the end, there’s no question. It’s a complete capitulation to Pelosi and by extension Trumka.”
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