Mexico City–Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Thursday estimated that next week the U.S. Senate will approve the new free trade agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC).
A good news I can give in advance is that in the U.S. Senate the trade treaty will be approved and will be approved next week, possibly, (i.e., it will happen this month, López Obrador said during its daily press conference in Ciudad de Mé Xico.
The representative noted that U.S. approval “will help a lot and nothing else will be missing from Canada,” where he said, “it will take some time, not long, for its parliamentary processes.” He noted that the U.S. Senate’s decision “is going to go a long way to helping more foreign investment (Mexico), boosting growth, and having well-paid jobs in the country.” The final version of the T-MEC was signed by the three countries on December 10 in Mexico City after the agreement was amended to allow its approval by the Democratic majority of the U.S. Congressional House of Representatives. Although the House of Representatives ratified the T-MEC on December 19, the trade agreement that will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), in force since 1994, has yet to be approved by the U.S. Senate to be ratified by that nation.
T-MEC. Photo: EFE
Canada has also not yet ratified the T-MEC, although the Government has indicated that it will so as soon as the United States completes its approval process. According to a survey released on Thursday, 77% of Canadians support the new trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada, known as T-MEC and signed by the three countries on December 10. The Mexican Senate already endorsed the agreement on December 12, but the T-MEC will not enter into force until the three signatory countries have ratified it. The T-MEC maintains NAFTA’s free trade philosophy but updated to pick up new realities, such as online sales growth, and to protect manufacturing jobs in the United States and Canada.
