Experts say the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement improves on the long-standing North America Free Trade Agreement which had been effect since 1994. Now 75% of the parts of a vehicle must be sourced from the three countries or there could be a tariff placed on that vehicle.

After a year of talks, the U.S. House passed the United States, Mexico, Canada Trade Agreement, before the Christmas break, now it moves on to the Senate.  The deal would replace the 25 year old North American Free Trade Agreement between the three countries.  Senator Rob Portman sees a lot of benefits for Ohio in the new deal, including more opportunities for farmers and new provisions involving online sales. 

Two weeks following the visit from President Trump to Wapakoneta, Ohio’s Republican senator is pushing for another deal that could bring more foreign investments to the United States.

The President joined the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at Pratt industries to celebrate its owner, Anthony Pratt’s 2 billion dollar commitment to invest in the United States. Half a billion of that commitment will be in the Wapakoneta facility.  Senator Rob Portman was in Wapakoneta during the visit and he tell Your News Now that getting the trade deal done with Mexico and Canada will be another boom for jobs in the United States, including around 10 thousand in the automotive industry. 

Although President Donald Trump signed a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada back in September, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement is still in limbo. While the Trump administration is pushing for Congress to make the new deal official, some Democrats have expressed concerns that the deal does not address labor requirements to the degree they would like. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement released at the end of May that they would like to ensure the deal works for American workers and farmers.