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 / Modified oct 16, 2019 9:52 a.m.

Mexican president cautions against politicizing USMCA trade deal

Legislators in Mexico ratified the agreement in June. Lawmakers in Canada and the U.S. have not. by Jorge Valencia, Fronteras Desk

Amlo prensa Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador at one of his press conferences at Mexico's National Palace in Mexico City.
Office of the Mexican President via Fronteras Desk

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador wrote a letter to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asking for prompt approval of the new trade deal negotiated between Mexico, Canada and the United States, he said in a news conference on Monday.

López Obrador hopes politics won’t interfere with Congress ratifying the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, as candidates move forward in campaigning for next year’s elections, he said.

“The trade deal shouldn't get entangled with electoral politics,” López Obrador said in the news conference.

Mexican legislators ratified the agreement in June. Neither U.S. nor Canadian lawmakers have ratified it. It would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which has been in effect since 1994.

Congressional Democrats are asking for further protection for Mexican trade unions under the agreement, López Obrador said. He added that Mexican lawmakers approved legislation with those purposes earlier this year.

Fronteras Desk
This story is from the Fronteras Desk, a collaboration of Southwestern public radio stations, including NPR 89.1. Read more from the Fronteras Desk.
MORE: Fronteras Desk, Government, Mexico, News, Trade
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