White House likely to send USMCA trade deal to Congress after Sept. 1, sources say

From CNBC.

The White House plans to send its replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement to Congress after Sept. 1, setting up a vote by the end of the year, sources told CNBC.

The White House could submit the bill to Congress as soon as this week to start the approval process. House Democrats are meeting in working groups to hammer out issues with the existing agreement.

But the White House and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative disagree over how aggressive a strategy to pursue in getting the deal through Congress, a senior administration official and two senior GOP aides said.

President Donald Trump’s acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short want to pressure majority House Democrats with a deadline so they cannot run out the clock on ratifying the deal. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has suggested that giving Democrats more time to consider it.

Despite those differences, the White House and USTR agree the Trump administration could benefit from another month to sell the deal to members of Congress unsure about supporting it.

See the complete article from CNBC online.