President Donald Trump's top economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, told CNBC on Tuesday that enacting a trade pact with Mexico and Canada to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement is "more important" for the U.S. economy than a deal with China.

Kudlow also said that he remains hopeful that negotiations between Beijing and the U.S. can return to the position of apparent near alignment they enjoyed before talks appeared to stall out last month, amid disagreements between the two economic superpowers.

Kudlow's remarks on CNBC's "The Exchange" came just days after Trump scrapped plans to slap increasing tariffs on all Mexican goods coming into the U.S. until Mexico took sufficient steps to stem the flow of migrants coming to the southern U.S. border. The two countries struck an agreement, many details of which are still unknown, on Friday after talks in Washington.

Experts have said that imposing new tariffs on Mexico — a move Trump has said is still on the table — could jeopardize the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, which has been approved by the three countries' leaders. The nations' legislatures have yet to ratify the deal.

Kudlow's emphasis on the USMCA over the China deal indicates that Trump aims to pressure Democrats to support ratification ahead of the 2020 election. Democrats, who hold the majority in the House, have raised concerns about how the new agreement would address labor and environmental issues, among other provisions.

"Let me give you something that I think is more important than China, vis-a-vis the economy," Kudlow said, referring to the USMCA. "We are hoping that Congress will sign off on it ... Canada and Mexico are gigantic trading partners and I think in economic terms, that's probably more important than the China story."