U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer briefed Republican lawmakers on Tuesday about President Trump’s trade deal with Mexico and Canada, as the administration works to sell the agreement on Capitol Hill.
The phone conversations came as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced they had reached a long-awaited agreement on the trade deal — known as the USMCA — which is intended to replace the Clinton-era North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Lighthizer, who is headed to Mexico to sign the deal, spoke with House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), along with Ways and Means Committee ranking member Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas).
“Ambassador Lighthizer called in to brief the USMCA Whip Group and Ways and Means Republicans Members on the agreement reached on USMCA. … He outlined some of the key changes agreed to with Mexico and Canada, which include stepped up enforcement on labor and the environment,” a spokeswoman for Scalise said.
Lighthizer also spoke with Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee, senators told The Hill.
“We had some this morning already via conference call,” said Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 GOP senator, when asked about the briefing.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said his full panel would be briefed on Thursday, but that GOP members held a conference call with Lighthizer on Tuesday.
“We had a phone conference with him. … They gave us a general overview, but this was Republican members,” Grassley said
He added that he would defer to Lighthizer on whether to brief parties separately or together on Thursday.
The preliminary talks with Lighthizer come after two members of GOP leadership signaled on Monday night that there was concern among Republicans that Trump made “problematic” concessions to Democrats as part of the talks.
“I just hope he hasn’t gone too far in Speaker Pelosi’s direction, and the AFL-CIO’s direction that he might lose some support here,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). “My concern is that what the administration presented has now been moved demonstrably to Democrats, the direction that they wanted.”
Thune added that “some of the things that we’re hearing would be, yeah, would be, I think, problematic.”