Mexico expects “imminent” approval of the T-MEC this Thursday in the US Senate

[Inkriql]

Mexico again showed its optimism regarding the ratification of the T-MEC, the trade agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada that will replace NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) on Tuesday, when it announced its enthusiasm for a possible vote in the US Senate this week.

"As we advanced a few days ago, the ratification of the T-MEC in the plenary of the US Senate seems imminent: probably this Thursday," he said in his social networks undersecretary for North America, Jesús Seade.

In addition, the main Mexican negotiator of the Agreement stressed that the ratification of the neighboring country of Mexico will come “with a huge bipartisan consensus, as there was in Mexico.” “Talk about the trust and commitment to the negotiated thing. The T-MEC goes!” he concluded.

Last week, the US Senate finance committee approved the T-MEC with a large majority (25 votes in favor and three against), which included Democrats and Republicans. The legislators of that country, meanwhile, highlighted the work of President Donald Trump, who will point to a political victory when it is approved in plenary.

“This day had been brewing for years. President Donald Trump executed an update of NAFTA. As a result, the entire country will benefit, ”said Chuck Grassley, the Republican senator from the state of Iowa who chairs the committee.

"This modernized trilateral agreement will open new markets for US exporters, create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, grow the national economy and protect local workers," he added. "I hope the Senate will act soon and the final approval is just around the corner," he completed.

However, it remains to be seen what happens this week in the Upper House of the country of the stars and stripes, since the committees of health, education, work and pensions, as well as the commerce, science and transportation committees are still missing; that of budget allocations; and that of foreign relations approve the agreement in commissions before sending it to the plenary.

The meetings for this to happen are scheduled for tomorrow morning (local time), so it is expected that, once with the votes of the committees involved, the ratification is only a vote, that of the full Senate, of Approve definitively.

Thereafter, it will be pending for Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky and leader of the Senate, to schedule the general vote.