Trump says Canada, Mexico behind trade deal; China tariff deadline is open

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Canada and Mexico are completely in line on the new North American trade deal and it is up to the United States to get it passed.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he hoped Congress would quickly move to act on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal, or USMCA. Canada said on Thursday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to meet with Trump on June 20 in Washington to discuss ratification of the accord.

"Hopefully they can act quickly because we could have that done very, very fast if we can get support from, really, the Democrats in Congress, (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi, they have to put the bill forward," Trump said.

The Trump administration has been pushing Congress to speed up a vote on the agreement. But the Democratic-led House of Representatives has sought more time to review the deal, with Pelosi pressing for improved enforcement mechanisms for labor and environmental standards.

Republicans, who control the U.S. Senate, have been seeking a vote on the USMCA before the August recess to avoid budget debates and 2020 presidential campaign activity expected to intensify in the autumn.

But Pelosi controls the schedule for trade legislation in the House and USMCA does not appear likely to come to a vote in that chamber during the summer.

"I think that hopefully it's going to get approved quickly," Trump told a roundtable with state governors. "Everybody wants it. It's in Congress right now. It's in the House and they're reviewing it. But everybody seems to want it."

"As you know Canada is totally in line and Mexico is totally in line and now it's up to us to get it passed. And it's going to have a tremendous impact, I think," he added, noting it would mean "a lot of money and a lot of jobs." 

Meanwhile, Trump declined to set a deadline on Wednesday for levying tariffs on another $325 billion of Chinese goods and called the relationship with Beijing good but "testy" after China walked back commitments for a trade deal.

The president, who said he still plans to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month, has repeatedly threatened to escalate an already months-long trade war by putting tariffs on nearly all of the remaining Chinese imports that are not already affected by U.S. levies, which include products such as cell phones, computers and clothing.

Asked if he had a deadline for China to make progress towards a deal before facing the further penalty, Trump said no.

"I have no deadline," he told a news conference, gesturing to his head. "My deadline is what's up here. We'll figure out the deadline. Nobody can quite figure it out."

Trump has said previously that he would decide after the G20 meeting in Japan at the end of June whether to carry out his threat.

Washington has already imposed 25 percent tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods, ranging from semiconductors to furniture, that are imported to the United States.

Trump reiterated his belief manufacturers were pulling out of China under pressure from the tariffs that the United States has already imposed, in a boon to U.S. manufacturing.

"I think that we'll end up making a deal with China. We have a very good relationship, although it's a little bit testy right now, as you would expect. I think they really have to make a deal."

Though Trump has said he plans to meet with Xi at the G20 summit in Japan, Beijing has not confirmed any planned talks.

Trade talks between the world's two largest economies fell apart in May. Trump administration officials said China had watered down commitments it made on issues such as stopping intellectual property theft.

"We thought we had a deal, and unfortunately they decided that they were going to change the deal, and they can't do that with me. But something's going to happen and I think it's going to be something very positive," Trump said.

The United States wants China to change its trade practices by not requiring U.S. companies to share their technology in order to do business there, curbing subsidies for Chinese state-owned enterprises and increasing access to Chinese markets.