Trump: ‘Very good things’ happening in USMCA talks

President Donald Trump hinted on Monday that efforts to push a new continent-wide trade deal through the US Congress were close to success, as senior officials from all sides headed to Mexico for further talks. Trump’s remarks followed a report that US and Mexican trade negotiators have reached a deal making changes to labor enforcement under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) signed last year. That would remove a principal hurdle to ratification of the agreement, the fate of which had seemed to hang by a thread in recent weeks. With the window narrowing for action by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives as 2019 draws to a close and an election year approaches, there has been a flurry of last-minute activity on the pact. Lawmakers also face competing priorities as they press ahead with impeachment proceedings against Trump and legislation to prevent a government shutdown this month. “I am hearing very good things,” the president said Monday. “I am hearing a lot of strides have been made over the last 48 hours.”