Yahoo Finance JPMorgan's Dimon: I'll lobby 'every congressman' to vote for stalled USMCA
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon strongly backed the trade deal between the U.S., Mexico and Canada, telling Yahoo Finance in an interview that he and other businessmen were prepared to “get every congressman” to vote for the stalled agreement.
The renegotiated NAFTA pact is currently stalled in Congress — and was thrown into jeopardy earlier this month when President Donald Trump threatened to slap tariffs on Mexico to stem the flow of migrants across the border.
While both Mexico and Canada plan to approve the deal, Democrats have held up the legislation on labor and environmental concerns. Dimon told Yahoo Finance that he and other business leaders plan to “work really hard to get it passed.”
The CEO of the largest U.S. bank added that U.S. and major American companies — represented by the Business Roundtable (BRT), which Dimon chairs — should help support both countries.
“You know, the membership of the BRT wants that deal done. Mexico is a good neighbor of ours. Canada is a good neighbor of ours,” Dimon said.
“And we're going to be fully involved in trying to get every congressman to vote for USMCA,” he added, referring to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the rengotiated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Thus far, Mexico has been the only country to ratify the agreement. Canada is looking to get the deal through the Parliament, potentially pressing for a vote this summer if President Trump can establish a deal with Democrats.
However, the USMCA is mired in politics ahead of what is expected to be a hotly contested presidential election in 2020. Democrats have also questioned whether the deal is really enough from NAFTA, which they blame for outsourced jobs.
“We've got to lift labor standards in all three countries – and if we don't do that, NAFTA will continue to mean bleeding jobs,” said Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
However, business leaders like Dimon insist the U.S. and Mexico are facing the same issues, and should collaborate more closely on key issues.
“And a lot of their problems are also ours,” Dimon said to Yahoo Finance, speaking about Mexico. “We buy their drugs and sell them the guns. So... we should work together to fix some of these problems and stuff like that.”
Donovan Russo is a writer for Yahoo Finance. Follow him @Donovanxrusso.
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