The House must act now on USMCA to build on the ecomomy’s success

President Trump delivered on a key campaign promise to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in a way that will benefit American workers and rebuild our country’s middle class.

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is a mutually beneficial trade deal that is good for everyone involved – the United States, Canada, and Mexico. But Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) continues to put politics over people, refusing to bring the USMCA to the House floor for a vote.

After years of stagnation, our economy is booming, paychecks are rising, and jobs are steadily moving back into the states. The USMCA will build on this success, improving our economic ties with our trade counterparts to the north and south. It will help farmers and ranchers in rural America access foreign markets, which will allow more U.S. dairy products, eggs and poultry to be sold in Canada and Mexico. It will help American manufacturers grow and remain competitive in the global marketplace, and it will create a more level playing field for American workers and improve labor conditions across North America.

In my home state of Colorado, the USMCA will pave the way for further economic development with our state’s leading exporting partners. In 2017, Colorado did $2.7 billion in trade with Mexico and Canada, including $847 million in processed food and $232.1 million in machinery. These industries, and all the middle-class jobs they support throughout my district, will stand to see major benefits from passage of the USMCA.

This modernized trade deal is crucial for the future of American prosperity, as well as our farmers, manufacturers, innovators, and those who continue to stimulate future economic growth. NAFTA was negotiated in 1989 and it is now simply outdated. In order to build and sustain a prosperous middle class, America needs modernized trade deals that recognize the realities of the global economy.

We can’t allow the socialist wing of the Democratic Party to derail all the progress we have made. But Speaker Pelosi has shown little urgency in moving to ratify the USMCA. Every day House Democrats stall a vote on the USMCA is a missed opportunity to rebuild our middle class and unleash our nation’s job growth potential.

We know USMCA would pass the Republican-controlled Senate. We know it would be a bipartisan win for the American people. It’s time for Congress to pass the USMCA, so we can unlock our nation’s potential as a global economic powerhouse and re-direct our attention to focus on new trade deals, including with China. Democrats don’t need any more time. It’s time for Speaker Pelosi to bring the USMCA to the House floor for a vote and put the American people ahead of her party’s 2020 political strategy.

Congressman Ken Buck is from Windsor, representing Colorado’s 4th District. He serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.