House Leader Pelosi: Revised USMCA Much Better Than Original

After months of tense negotiation, US labor leaders and House Democrats have agreed to a modified North American trade pact with improved labor standards, clearing the path toward final ratification, officials announced Tuesday.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said with changes to the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the new regional trade pact will be "infinitely better than what was initially proposed by the administration."

Officials from the three countries are due to sign the revised deal in Mexico City later Tuesday. It can then be sent to their legislatures for final approval.

The new pact will replace the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, which US labor leaders long blamed for the loss of American jobs.

When President Donald Trump insisted on renegotiating the terms of NAFTA, Democrats in the US Congress vowed to hold out for improved and enforceable labor standards.

Negotiators completed the USMCA a year ago, and talks with Congress have been full steam since then, with a central issue mechanisms to ensure Mexican companies abide by tougher labor standards and higher wages.

"For the first time, there truly will be enforceable labor standards," including a process allowing for inspections of factories, said Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, whose support is critical to get the deal through Congress.

"The USMCA is far from perfect... But there is no denying that the trade rules in America will now be fairer," he said in a statement endorsing the new provisions.

The agreement hands Trump a political victory on the same day that Pelosi also announced articles of impeachment against the US president for abuse of power and obstruction of justice.

Representative Richard Neal, chairman of the critical House Ways and Means Committee, said negotiations with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer were strained at times.

"These were intense, argumentative, angry negotiations. This got really hot on a number of occasions. I think we set a world record for hanging up on each other, myself and the trade rep, " Neal said at a news conference with Pelosi.

But he said the result "is more than a triumph for organized labor, it's for workers everywhere across America."

The changes also have toughened measures to monitor environmental provisions.

And it removes the requirement for the countries to provide at least 10 years of exclusivity for biologic drugs, which blocks cheaper generic versions.