Trudeau plans to meet with Pelosi, McConnell to talk trade: report

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is planning to meet with leaders in the U.S. from both parties when he comes to Washington this week to discuss a potential trade deal.

Politico reports Trudeau will meet with both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as he talks with the party leaders about having a vote in Congress on the new North American trade deal, two senior Canadian officials along with a pair of congressional sources told the news outlet.

{mosads}The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) has yet to hit the floor in Congress and Trudeau is now deliberating whether to push the Canadian Parliament to vote on its version of a bill to implement the trade deal. The deal would replace NAFTA and the Trump administration announced late last month that it was ready to start the formal approval process for the deal in Congress.

Trudeau must decide how to move forward with the trade deal with the Canadian Parliament before knowing how the Trump administration plans to deal with House Democrats’ issues with the USMCA.

The Canadian Parliament is set to adjourn this week and is not expected to return until after the late October federal election, though Politico reports it could reconvene for an emergency session any time before early September for a hearing on the trade agreement.

Trudeau is reportedly set to speak to with McConnell and Pelosi after a Thursday meeting with President Trump, which his office announced last week.

The news outlet also notes that Pelosi has to square up with Trudeau on a wager she lost after her home team the Golden State Warriors lost to the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Finals.