Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 3/31/20

A bipartisan group of 19 senators are asking to delay the new NAFTA agreement from taking effect on June 1, calling the start date "highly aggressive" even if the coronavirus pandemic wasn't taking up most of the attention in Washington and around the country, Pro Trade's Sabrina Rodriguez reports.

In a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Senate Finance Committee members said the trade deal shouldn't enter into force until it is clear that the U.S., Canada and Mexico are all fully in compliance. The Trump administration was already seen as behind schedule for launching the USMCA in two months as planned, and all three countries have been singularly focused on containing the coronavirus and stemming the economic fallout.

"We ask you to delay the proposed June 1 entry into force and work with Congress and stakeholders to determine a more feasible timeline," Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and other members wrote.