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WASHINGTON – The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday approved President Donald Trump’s revamp of the North American Free Trade Agreement, with Texas Sen. John Cornyn among those voting in favor of a deal that has significant implications for the Texas economy.
The bipartisan 25-3 vote came despite some grumbling from Cornyn and other Republicans, who felt the Trump administration of late had made too many concessions to Democrats.
“This is a good agreement. It’s not a perfect agreement,” Cornyn said ahead of the committee vote, which saw only two Republicans and one Democrat oppose the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. “On net, it deserves my support.”
The full GOP-run Senate is now poised to OK the accord in the coming days or weeks, depending on how the calendar shakes out for the chamber’s looming impeachment trial over Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.
Lawmakers in the Democrat-run House last month approved the accord with overwhelming bipartisan support after Speaker Nancy Pelosi struck a labor-backed deal with the Trump administration to boost protections related to workers’ rights, the environment and other areas.
Every House Texan – Republican and Democrat – voted in favor of the agreement, with many praising it as a major win for the Lone Star State.
That means Trump is close to fulfilling a high-profile campaign pledge to rework NAFTA – a 25-year-old accord he’s routinely lambasted as the “worst trade deal ever,” despite political and business leaders in Texas and beyond long hailing it as a key economic cog.
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement largely preserves and updates the North American pact. Most experts have said it was crucial to keep in place those tri-party ties, though they have also predicted that the deal would have limited impact on economic growth.
The accord does make some notable changes aimed at raising wages for U.S. workers and boosting American manufacturing. Among them is one that requires more of an automobile to be made in North America to qualify for duty-free status.
Such provisions – along with the concessions won by Pelosi – have been enough to win over the likes of Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who’s skeptical of free trade agreements.
“It will not solve every problem by a long shot, but it’s a significant step,” he recently told National Public Radio.
Not every Republican has been quite so thrilled – particularly since the agreement, in some instances, abandons longstanding GOP orthodoxy on trade.
Cornyn was among those who last month expressed concern that Robert Lighthizer, Trump’s trade ambassador, had gone “radio silent” with Senate Republicans while crafting a deal with Pelosi that “moved demonstrably to Democrats.”
But nobody has been as miffed as Sen. Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican.
One of two GOP votes against the accord Tuesday, he argued that the agreement is “meant to diminish trade and investment in the U.S.,” that “there’s no economic growth here,” and that the Senate Finance Committee was “getting rolled.”
“It’s the first time we’re ever going to go backwards on a trade deal,” said Toomey, who was joined by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., in voting against the pact in committee.
Cornyn said he was “sympathetic” to Toomey’s concerns. But he noted that Texas conducts tens of billions of dollars in trade each year with Mexico and Canada, with that commerce supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs. He also took a more positive tone toward Lighthizer and the rest of Trump’s trade team.
“I want to commend the president and the U.S. trade representative for their hard work and determination in achieving this goal, despite consistent political headwinds,” Cornyn said.
It remained to be seen how Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican who is not on Senate Finance, will approach the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
A spokeswoman on Tuesday said only that “Sen. Cruz is reviewing the final text of the deal and wants to make sure it’s a good deal that protects American workers and creates more jobs for Texans.”