U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Approves USMCA
The House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday (Dec. 17) gave its approval for the United States Mexico Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA), which means the trade pact could be brought for a floor vote later in the week. The Senate will likely consider the legislation in early 2020.
With U.S. residential construction relying on billions of dollars worth of building materials from Mexico and Canada each year, volatility in pricing has impacted housing affordability. The USMCA will affect the home building industry. The National Association of Home Builders considers the USMCA to be an improvement over NAFTA. An April 2019 report from the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) cited their model estimating that the USMCA could raise real GDP by over $68 billion and benefit U.S. employment by more than 175,000 jobs. The commission’s model estimated that the USMCA would have a positive impact on across U.S. industry sectors.