U.S. Trade Representative
Robert Lighthizer faced pushback and a “bucket full” of questions Thursday during a closed-door caucus lunch meeting meant to sell Senate Republicans on the new trade deal with Canada and Mexico.
Republican senators stressed that they expect the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will have the votes to pass the Senate, but acknowledged there was still opposition within the caucus and broader frustration with how the trade negotiations had been handled.
“There’s some opposition to some pieces of it, as you might imagine,” Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) told reporters after the lunch.
Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said the Senate will not take up the trade deal until next year after the chamber finishes an expected impeachment trial for
President Trump.
“From my perspective, it’s not as good as I had hoped," McConnell told reporters during a weekly press conference Tuesday.
But GOP senators indicated after the Lighthizer meeting that there are concerns about the process for how the trade deal will move through the Senate.
Sen.
John Cornyn (R-Texas), a top adviser to McConnell, said he did not expect the Senate Finance Committee to have a mock markup of the trade deal, which under previous agreements would allow them to suggest changes that could be worked in to a final proposal.
“It’s a bad practice and I don’t think the Senate should just quietly agree to be jammed in the process,” Cornyn said, adding that it was a “lousy way to treat the Senate.”
Sen.
Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he had also heard the Senate Finance Committee would not be holding a mock markup of the trade deal.
“We have to have an opportunity to weigh in on that,” Toomey said. “This is a problem.”
Toomey said he raised his concerns with Lighthizer during the lunch and at two separate meetings with Senate Finance Republicans.
When asked if he spoke directly to Lighthizer about his concerns, Toomey said: "I did. In fact, I raised them at the meeting we had before the lunch and I raised them on the phone call the day before that."
More at:
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/474344-lighthizer-fails-to-quell-gop-angst-on-trade-deal