Market News & Headlines >> Pelosi: Breakthrough on USMCA Near

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on Thursday said a breakthrough in talks with the Trump administration on a revised trade pact with Mexico and Canada could be “imminent”, adding that she wants to pass the deal by year's end. 

"We are moving positively in terms of the U.S. Mexico Canada agreement. Again, it all comes down to ... enforcement," she told reporters at a news conference, according to Reuters News Service. "I do believe that if we can get this to the place it needs to be, which is imminent, that this can be a template for future trade agreements." 

The U.S., Mexico and Canada last year agreed to replace the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a revision designed to encourage more investment in factories and jobs in the United States. 

But the USMCA has been stalled in Congress, with Democratic lawmakers demanding changes to strengthen protections for workers and the environment and to make sure the deal's provisions can be enforced. 

Pelosi met with Democratic lawmakers Thursday to discuss the trade deal and other issues. An aide in the room told the Associated Press (AP) that Pelosi reiterated that Democrats do not want something incremental. They want something transformative for American workers. 

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., told colleagues the biggest outstanding issue to be resolved is enforcement of enhanced labor standards in Mexico.