The Senate’s senior Republican issued an ultimatum to President Trump on Sunday, saying either he cancels his trade-war tariffs or else he can forget about getting his U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal through Congress.
Sen. Charles E. Grassley, chairman of the Finance Committee and president pro tempore of the Senate, said Mr. Trump’s eagerness for tariffs on steel and aluminum imports has become a major hindrance in talks over approving the USMCA trade deal.
“If these tariffs aren’t lifted, USMCA is dead. There is no appetite in Congress to debate USMCA with these tariffs in place,” the Iowa Republican wrote in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal.
The USMCA is the successor to the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Mr. Trump railed against in the 2016 election. The new USMCA heightens some concessions to U.S.-based manufacturing.
Mr. Trump said late last year he would terminate NAFTA, forcing Congress into a take-it-or-leave-it position on the USMCA. But Mr. Grassley’s op-ed suggests that would be a losing strategy.
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11.30.2024