US President Donald Trump has written in a letter to Democratic congressional leaders that lawmakers should pass the United States-Mexico-Canada trade pact before taking up any infrastructure bill.
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"Before we get to infrastructure, it is my strong view that Congress should first pass the important and popular USMCA trade deal ... Once Congress has passed USMCA, we should turn our attention to a bipartisan infrastructure package," Trump wrote in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer.
Trump said the highway trust fund should be reauthorised and asked congressional Democrats to come to a meeting at the White House on Wednesday with a list of their infrastructure priorities.
Trump met with Democratic lawmakers in April, when the group agreed to spend $US2 trillion to repair and build the US' aging roads, bridges, power grids, water and broadband infrastructure.
But they did not develop a plan on how to pay for such a package.
Trump's administration has concluded negotiations with Ottawa and Mexico City on a trade pact to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, but is still locked in talks with congressional Democrats over its approval.
Last week, his administration announced it would remove US tariffs on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminium, but a number of Democrats have expressed concerns about other parts of the deal.
Australian Associated Press
