U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey will vote against Trump's new trade deal; here's why

President Trump and House Democrats managed to bridge their differences on a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada, but Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey said he’ll vote against the deal.

Even though many Republicans have embraced the deal, Toomey, R-Pa., said the new agreement is going to hurt free trade.

In an interview with CNBC Wednesday, Toomey said, “They’ve passed an agreement that’s meant to restrict trade.”

“We shouldn’t be going backwards on trade,” Toomey said. “We should go forward.”

The new trade deal is designed to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which critics say have hurt U.S. manufacturers. Trump and Democrats have said NAFTA has killed jobs by encouraging companies to move factories to Mexico where they can spend less on labor.

The 25-year-old NAFTA eliminated many tariffs, while the new agreement includes tariffs on manufactured goods. Toomey contends that’s a mistake. Under NAFTA, Pennsylvania exports to Mexico have surged by more than 500 percent, he said.

House Democratic leaders announced they reached a new trade agreement with the White House Tuesday, the same day they introduced articles of impeachment against President Trump.

The president hailed the new agreement at his rally at the Giant Center in Hershey Tuesday night. He called it the most important trade deal in the nation’s history.

“The silver lining of this impeachment and this witch hunt is that’s the reason they approved (the agreement) and that’s OK with me,” Trump said in Hershey.

The new agreement is designed to spur more manufacturing in the United States. Critical provisions could bring more auto production to America because of rules requiring up to 40 percent of auto production to be done by nations where auto workers earn $16 per hour, far more than Mexican workers earn.

Toomey was the first Republican senator to come out against the agreement. In the CNBC interview, Toomey said he has spoken to other Republican senators who have concerns about the deal but he was unsure if they would vote against it.

On numerous occasions, Toomey has offered sharp criticism over the president’s use of tariffs. Toomey has said tariffs essentially represent tax hikes because they result in consumers paying higher prices.

Earlier this month, Toomey criticized Trump for his plans to restore tariffs on steel and aluminum from Brazil and Argentina.

The Senate is expected to vote on the trade agreement in January or February. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the vote will likely come after an expected impeachment trial in the Senate.