Democrats, White House reach agreement on revised NAFTA trade pact

WASHINGTON - After months of negotiations and a last-minute hitch involving Mexico, the White House and House Democrats have reached a deal that clears the way for passage of a revised North American free-trade pact.

"We got the agreement, we're going to go with it," House Ways and Means Committee chairman Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., said Tuesday.

The deal between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and President Donald Trump's chief trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer, came after intense talks with Mexico over Democrats' demands for stronger labor enforcement rules, a major obstacle in advancing the long-stalled accord.

The agreement is expected to be officially announced later Tuesday.

Whether Congress has enough time to vote on the accord before the end of the year remains uncertain, but it's now likely that Trump will be able to claim he has fulfilled a signature campaign promise before the 2020 election.

For Pelosi and other Democrats, who wanted to shape