CONGRESS/NAFTA/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump lauded his new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico in his State of the Union address on Tuesday [2-5-19] and urged Congress to pass the revised pact. The deal, he argued, will help American farmers and workers and ensure ‘that more cars are proudly stamped with the four beautiful words: Made in the U.S.A.’ But the pact, which replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement, is currently imperiled in Congress, and both Democrats and Republicans say it has little chance of passing without significant changes. Democrats say the deal does not go far enough to protect workers and the environment, while Republicans say it goes too far in restricting trade, particularly in the auto sector. The stalemate has some business leaders increasingly worried that the administration lacks a winning strategy to move the revised deal through a divided Congress, in a year when a prolonged government shutdown has further eroded what little inclination Democrats and Republicans had to work together on large pieces of legislation.”
–Jim Tankersley, “Trump Loves the New Nafta. Congress Doesn’t.,” The New York Times online, February 6, 2019