Mexico first to ratify USMCA trade deal, Trump presses U.S. Congress to do same
Source: Reuters
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico on Wednesday became the first country to ratify the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) agreed late last year to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) at the behest of U.S. President Donald Trump.
By a vote of 114 in favor to 4 against, Mexico’s Senate backed the deal tortuously negotiated between 2017 and 2018 after Trump repeatedly threatened to withdraw from NAFTA if he could not get a better trade agreement for the United States.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had already anticipated ratification this week in the Senate, where his leftist National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) and its allies have a comfortable majority in the 128-member chamber.
There has been little parliamentary opposition in Mexico to trying to safeguard market access to United States, by far Mexico’s top export destination, and the trade deal was approved with overwhelming cross-party support in the Senate.
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BUSINESS NEWS JUNE 19, 2019 / 4:00 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Miguel Angel Lopez, Dave Graham
4 MIN READ
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-mexico-usmca/mexico-first-to-ratify-usmca-trade-deal-trump-presses-u-s-congress-to-do-same-idUSKCN1TK2U3
