The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday passed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) by a 25-3 vote, a key step towards final passage of the legislation.
In most cases, only the Senate Finance Committee votes on a trade deal before sending it to the Senate floor. However, the Senate parliamentarian, citing a precedent created in the Trade Act of 1974, determined last week that six other committees share partial jurisdiction over the USMCA.
The Senate Budget Committee and Environment and Public Works Committees will vote on the bill, known as H.R. 5430, on January 14. The Senate Commerce Committee and Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committees will vote on January 15. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote on January 16. The Senate Appropriations Committee must also consider the legislation but has not yet named a date for a vote.
Once passed by all seven committees, the bill will head to the Senate floor for a final vote. If passed by the full Senate, the bill would head to President Trump for his signature.
Mexico’s Senate on December 12 passed the current version of the USMCA by a vote of 107-1. Canada has not yet held a vote on the revised USMCA as its legislature has been in recess. The Canadian legislature will reconvene on January 27. Canada’s majority Liberal party has been supportive of the revised USMCA.
