The U.S. Senate, on a vote of 89-10 Thursday, ratified the U.S.-Mexico-Canada-agreement, aka the USMCA. 

The agreement updates the 1990s-era North American Free Trade Agreement. The House signed off on the USMCA last month. President Trump is expected to sign it. 

The long-delayed agreement, signed by the three nation’s leaders on Nov. 30, 2018, still must be approved by the Canadian Parliament. Mexico’s Senate signed off on June 30, 2019.

Both of Colorado’s senators — Michael Bennet of Denver and Cory Gardner of Yuma — voted in favor. Among those voting no: Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, Cory Booker, D-NJ and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY.

In a statement after the vote, Bennet said he has long believed NAFTA needed modernization. The final agreement “brings our trade policies into the 21st century,” he said. “This agreement will maintain key export markets for Colorado and provide some certainty for our farmers and ranchers. I appreciate the efforts by Democratic negotiators to secure new resources and tools to hold our trading partners accountable for the stronger labor and environmental standards.”

Gardner said Wednesday that the agreement is “an important opportunity for the United States to gain more jobs, incentivize more economic growth, and create more opportunity for the people of Colorado. This agreement will continue to boost Colorado’s already vibrant trade relationship with our two largest global trading partners, Mexico and Canada.”

Without the agreement, Colorado’s agriculture community would suffer, Gardner said, pointing to dairy farmers in Northern Colorado, wheat farmers on the Eastern Plains, cattle ranchers on the Western Slope, and potato farmers in the San Luis Valley, who would be left without major markets for their exports. “We have to give all of our Colorado exporters the best chance to access markets around the world and USMCA is a welcome modern agreement that helps us retain that access in North America,” Gardner added.

However, Bennet also blasted the Trump administration for three years of what he called reckless trade policies. “Going forward,” he said, “we must do more to advance trade policies that put American businesses, producers, and consumers first. If the president’s superficial ‘Phase One’ agreement with China is any indication, he is clearly more focused on staging the next photo opportunity than delivering the long-term reforms needed to lift up American workers, farmers, ranchers and businesses.”

The news was greeted with optimism from trade groups, including Colorado Farm Bureau and the Outdoor Industry Association.

Colorado Farm Bureau President Don Shawcroft said Thursday’s vote “will provide necessary stability and vital opportunity for the agriculture industry to thrive by increasing U.S. exports by $2 billion.”

Colorado’s number one and two export markets for agriculture products are Canada and Mexico, respectively. 

The OIA, in a statement from Patricia Rojas-Ungar, vice president of government affairs, said passage of the USMCA is “welcome news for outdoor manufacturers, retailers and suppliers looking for some certainty in an uncertain trade environment. We applaud the Senate for voting to preserve the reciprocal duty- free market access for outdoor apparel, footwear and equipment in USMCA and strengthen labor and environment provisions. In other words — this is good for American outdoor recreation businesses and our consumers.”

But the OIA is less optimistic about the “phase one” China deal inked between President Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Wednesday.

“The administration should build off the momentum of this bipartisan victory and the Phase One trade deal signed yesterday with China by ending the trade war for good,” Rojas-Ungar said. 

The phase one deal does not end the trade war: 25% tariffs on more than $360 million in Chinese goods, including goods exported to the United States for further manufacturing, remain in place. 

The phase one deal requires China to buy $200 billion more in farm products and other exports from the United States, although the Financial Times reported Thursday that it offers little of the concessions sought by Trump.

A phase two deal — which would deal with issues like intellectual property — is unlikely before the November elections, according to Bloomberg, citing Trump administration officials.

The OIA pointed out that the phase one deal will take some of the heat off of tariffs of hiking boots, ski jackets and tents. Under the deal, some tariffs are being reduced from 15% to 7.5%. 

However, Rojas-Ungar said in a statement Wednesday that uncertainty about the timeline for reducing or eliminating tariffs, coupled with the possibility that new tariffs could still be imposed by the Trump administration, “has significantly inhibited the ability of outdoor companies to explore new business opportunities, develop new products and create U.S. jobs.”

OIA reported this week that Section 301 tariffs, which hit the outdoor industry particularly hard, resulted in $7.7 billion in tariffs paid by outdoor industry companies between January and November, 2019, up from $5.2 billion in 2018 and $4.6 billion in 2017.