In a statement to Yellowhammer News on Wednesday, U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) reacted to the previous day’s announcement that the House Democratic Caucus has reached an agreement and will support President Donald Trump’s historic United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
The USMCA would replace NAFTA and is widely supported among Alabama industry and business groups. While the Trump trade deal has been supported by many Republican elected officials in the Yellowhammer State for the last year, it also seemingly gained the support of Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) this week.
Shelby made it clear that he is also on board with the USMCA, which still needs to be ratified by both chambers of Congress. Alabama’s senior senator has opposed previous landmark trade deals in the past, such as NAFTA and CAFTA.
“I am glad we have finally reached an agreement on the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal,” Shelby said.
“I am proud of the President’s dedication to improving our nation’s trade policies and eliminating the horrible North American Free Trade Agreement,” he continued. “I look forward to the future jobs and investment this pact will foster.”
A vote on the USMCA has been scheduled in the House for next week, however, the current impeachment inquiry into Trump driven by House Democrats might actually stall ratification in the Senate after that.
Assuming the two impeachment charges announced this week get enough Democratic votes to pass the House and Trump is indeed impeached, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has already said he will not take up the USMCA until the impeachment trial has concluded in the upper chamber.
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Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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