Pence to push new NAFTA deal in visit to Iowa

Vice President Pence is traveling to Iowa on Tuesday to tour a manufacturing company as part of a push for passage of President Trump’s revised North American trade deal.

Pence will tour Accumold, a company that manufactures micro molding components based in Ankeny, Iowa. At 1:45 p.m., the vice president is scheduled to deliver remarks to highlight the administration’s efforts to pass the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), according to the Office of the Vice President.

{mosads}President Trump signed the revised trade deal in November, setting off a six-month timeline for Congress to take up the pact. Trump has given his required 30-day notice that he intends to submit the deal to Congress.

Last week, Pence met with a group of manufacturers, hosted by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), to talk about the deal.

“The USMCA trade deal is a significant improvement over the outdated [North American Free Trade Agreement] NAFTA agreement. The USMCA will create more than 176,000 new jobs and grow our economy. Iowa’s hardworking manufacturers, farmers, and ranchers need the USMCA to increase their market access and grow exports,” Trade Works for America co-chairman Phil Cox told The Hill in a statement.

Cox added, “We applaud Vice President Pence for his leadership to pass the USMCA and are pleased he’s making Iowa his next stop.” 

Trade Works for America’s efforts to advocate for approval of the deal include a multimillion-dollar, nationwide ad campaign to educate workers, job creators and lawmakers about the benefits of the USMCA.

Cox, a GOP operative, is co-chairman of the group alongside former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), who lost her reelection campaign in November.