López Obrador to the USA: "It is time to approve the T-MEC, before the electoral process"

[Jultxxxyes]

The Mexican president supported the decision of the Senate of his country not to give in to the intentions of imposing restrictions on the use of steel and aluminum in the automotive industry, as well as rejecting labor inspectors in Mexico.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in conference, Mexico City, Mexico, November 29, 2019

 

The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, asked the US approve the T-MEC trade agreement before the electoral process begins in the United States.

"I think that it is time, it is the right time, convenient. Politics is also time. It is time to make the decision because otherwise the decision will be brought closer to the electoral processes, which as happens in all democratic countries, arouse passions and we want them not to be linked, not to mix, with the electoral political issue, "said the president on a treaty between Mexico, USA and Canada

In this sense, López Obrador asked the leader of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, to "decide on the T-MEC" and endorsed the position of the Mexican Senate and the Foreign Ministry regarding the conditions of renegotiation of the agreement

 

Restrictions on steel and aluminum

Last Sunday, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Marcelo Ebrard, explained to the Mexican Senate that the US and Canada intended to impose an obligation that 70% of the steel and aluminum used in the Mexican automotive industry be produced in North America, a situation that could be negotiated for a period of five years. Otherwise, "we will not accept it for any reason," Ebrard said.

Mexico also rejected the proposal for US supervisors to inspect Mexican labor centers, as the US had raised.

The T-MEC, signed by the three countries in 2018, seeks to replace NAFTA. Mexico ratified it on June 19, but US Democratic lawmakers. They have stalled the ratification process.