On The Money: Trump takes victory lap with USMCA signing | Fed holds rates steady to open 2020 | Treasury rolls out new sanctions on Russia

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THE BIG DEAL– Trump takes victory lap with USMCA signing: President Trump on Wednesday signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, celebrating a signature legislative accomplishment on trade.

“Today, we are finally ending the NAFTA nightmare and signing into law the brand new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement,” Trump said in remarks Wednesday morning.

“The USMCA is the largest, fairest, most balanced and modern trade agreement ever achieved. There’s never been anything like it.”

With the signing of the legislation, Trump has followed through on a campaign promise of replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which he ridiculed as the “worst” trade deal throughout his 2016 campaign for the White House. The Hill’s Niv Elis, Morgan Chalfant and I tell you more about it here.

Dems decry White House snub: Congressional Democrats on Wednesday slammed President Trump for excluding them from the signing ceremony for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), an agreement for which they achieved significant changes and won union support.

Democrats delivered strong bipartisan support for the deal in Congress after negotiating significant changes on labor enforcement, environmental provisions and pharmaceuticals with the White House

• “Perhaps we were not invited to today’s event on the South Lawn because our presence would be a prominent reminder of our critical leadership in achieving this deal,” said Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee.
• “Not that I’m dying to visit the White House these days, but I think it’s pretty petty to exclude the House Dems who were instrumental in improving and passing #USMCA,” Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) tweeted.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who is well liked by Democrats, extended an olive branch across the aisle, thanking leaders in both parties and noting that “I’ve been in town long enough to know that listing members at a time like this makes more enemies than friends.”

White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement that several Democrats were invited to attend, but chose to skip the event. Deere did not specify which or how many Democrats were invited, and no Democrats have said they were invited to the White House ceremony.

Flashback–May 24, 2018: Trump snubs Senate Democrats key to bipartisan Dodd-Frank rollback

ON TAP TOMORROW

• The House Financial Services Committee‘s Task Force on Financial Technology holds a hearing entitled “Is Cash Still King? Reviewing the Rise of Mobile Payments,” 9:30 a.m.

LEADING THE DAY

Fed holds rates steady to open 2020: The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday it would keep interest rates unchanged as a resilient labor market holds strong and inflation remains well below the central bank’s ideal level.

The Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC), the Fed’s rate-setting panel, said in a Wednesday statement that it will maintain the baseline interest rate for overnight bank loans at 1.5 to 1.75 percent. 

The widely expected decision to keep rates steady comes after Fed officials closed out a turbulent 2019 with confidence in the U.S. economy’s outlook for 2020. I explain the decision here.

• A surge of hiring, record holiday sales and a late stock market rally at the end of 2019 helped temper fears of a recession that dominated the summer.
• While analysts have forecast a global economic slowdown in 2020, the U.S. economy is expected to expand at a stable pace and keep unemployment close to 50-year lows.

Powell added that while the “fundamentals supporting household spending are solid,” the Fed will be keeping a close eye on several potential headwinds, naming the lethal Chinese coronavirus.

“There is likely to be some disruption to activity in China and possibly globally based on the spread of the virus today and the travel restrictions and business closures that have already been imposed,” Powell told reporters Wednesday.

Trump administration rolls out new sanctions over Russian occupation of Crimea: The Trump administration on Wednesday announced new sanctions related to Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.

• The Treasury Department designated eight individuals in Ukraine in response to Russian aggression in the region, seven of whom are acting as government officials in Crimea with Russia’s backing and without authorization from Ukraine and who were also designated by the European Union on Tuesday.
• The U.S. sanctions also designate a Moscow-based private rail company, Grand Services Express, offering service between Russia and Crimea, as well as the company’s CEO.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement that the action reiterates “our unwavering support for restoring free and fair democratic political processes in Crimea.”

GOOD TO KNOW

• A group of Democratic lawmakers — including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a presidential candidate — are seeking information from the IRS about the agency’s plans to implement a requirement that it exclude low-income taxpayers and certain recipients of Social Security benefits from its private debt collection program.
• House Democrats on Tuesday asked a federal judge to lift his stay on their lawsuit over President Trump’s tax returns.
• The European Commission on Wednesday endorsed guidelines for 5G networks that would allow European Union (EU) member states to decide whether to allow “high risk” telecommunications groups, such as Chinese company Huawei, in their networks, despite strong pressure from the U.S. to ban the company.

ODDS AND ENDS

• Social Security impersonation calls are now the nation’s most-reported phone scam, according to an annual report from the Senate Aging Committee released Wednesday.
• Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Wednesday asked the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to probe recent reports that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’s phone was hacked by Saudi Arabian officials.