The American Congress should approve definitively on Thursday morning the new free-trade agreement linking the United States, Mexico and Canada called "USMCA" ("ACEUM", in French), announced on Wednesday January 15 the leader of the Republican majority in Senate, potentially offering a great victory to Donald Trump just before the opening of his impeachment trial.
"We expect the Senate to finish with CUMA tomorrow and send this landmark trade deal to President Trump for his signature"said Mitch McConnell in the Chamber. It's about a "Major victory for the administration" of the republican president "But especially for American families", he added.
Modernized version of the Alena
The text has already been approved by several Senate committees, which are controlled by the Republicans, with the support of Democrats. CUMA is a modernized version of the North American Free Trade Treaty (Alena), long criticized by the White House host.
Donald Trump, who called the Alena a "Worst trade deal in history" of the United States because of the job destruction it caused, had imposed its renegotiation in August 2017. After a marathon of negotiations, the ACEUM had been signed by the three countries concerned, in its initial version, end of November 2018.
The majority of the US House of Representatives approved it on December 19, 2019. The vote is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. (5 p.m. in France).
