A U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday advanced a bill to implement a new North American trade deal known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), moving it one step closer to ratification in the United States.

The Senate Finance Committee approved the USMCA Implementation Act by a vote of 25-3, sending it to the Senate floor for a full vote.

"USMCA will bring much needed certainty, and real benefits to America's farmers, workers, and businesses," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said during the markup of the legislation, adding that the trade deal has the support of hundreds of organizations representing a wide range of the economy.

"The bill before us today has something in it for everyone, and it's not often that we can say that about an implementing bill," he said.

The U.S. House of Representatives last month overwhelmingly approved the USMCA after months of negotiation with the Trump administration over issues including labor and environmental enforcement.

It's not yet clear when the full Senate will have a vote to ratify the USMCA to replace the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had signaled that the trade deal could be voted on after the Senate concludes its impeachment trial of U.S. President Donald Trump.

While the Trump administration has touted the USMCA as pro-growth, an analysis published by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) last month showed that the deal is "a net negative" for all three economies.

The USMCA modernizes trading rules and strengthens enforcement of labor and environmental rights, but its restrictions on auto trade and investment and on auto production "will hurt U.S. industry," said PIIE trade economists Mary Lovely and Jeffrey Schott, authors of the analysis.

"The Trump administration's stated goal was to ensure that more of the vehicles will be produced in North America. But the outcome will be just the opposite," the economists said.

Source: Xinhuanet

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