Tag Archives: USMCA trade deal

Mexican president meets Trump for first time with business on the menu

By Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador met his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump for the first time on Wednesday, in a potentially tricky encounter that may broach tensions over Mexico’s treatment of U.S. energy sector investors.

The leftist leader has brushed off criticism at home to push ahead with plans to meet Trump, a Republican widely disliked in Mexico because of his incendiary remarks about its people.

The meeting ostensibly aims to celebrate the start of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade deal, but disputes over energy sector contracts in Mexico could arise as the two men got together in the afternoon.

Mindful of the coronavirus pandemic, which is still surging in Mexico and the United States, the two did not shake hands as they met outside the White House. Neither wore face masks.

The USMCA was crafted in long negotiations headed by U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer.

Two people familiar with preparations for the meeting said the private sector was eager for Trump to raise concerns about Lopez Obrador’s attempts to renegotiate billions of dollars worth of contracts in energy infrastructure.

One said the issue had been put high on Lighthizer’s agenda for the meeting, though despite promptings from his own ambassador in Mexico, Trump has made little of it so far. Lighthizer’s office did not reply to a request for comment.

Lopez Obrador’s government is slowly rolling back a 2013-14 opening of the energy industry in favor of a state-led model, and has called a number of major contracts into question.

A senior U.S. official said on Monday evening Mexico’s government had pledged to uphold those contracts.

“So, we are certainly hoping that they will keep their word,” the official told reporters.

Mexican-U.S. cooperation over Trump’s immigration policies could feature prominently, although one source familiar with the matter said the talks aimed to prioritize business.

The summit was pitched to mark the start of USMCA, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement that Trump long lambasted. But the two-day gathering was scaled back to a single day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau opted out amid new U.S. threats of tariffs on Canadian goods.

Lopez Obrador is being joined by a delegation of business officials, including Mexico’s richest man, telecoms magnate Carlos Slim. They will dine on Wednesday evening with Trump and American business executives at the White House.

Lopez Obrador’s critics and some U.S. Democrats say Trump wants to use the meeting to drum up support among Hispanic voters ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election.

Opinion polls show Hispanic voters favor Trump’s Democratic rival, Joe Biden. Lopez Obrador will not meet Biden on the trip.

(Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Additional reporting by Dave Graham and David Lawder; Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Peter Cooney and Alistair Bell)

Mexico vows labor rights, higher wages to get U.S. Democrats to back trade deal

FILE PHOTO: Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador attends a news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico August 30, 2019. Picture taken August 30, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Romero

MEXICO CITY/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Seeking to speed up U.S. ratification of a North American trade deal, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday vowed to implement union freedoms, higher wages and other labor rights ahead of a meeting with a delegation of U.S. lawmakers.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said Democratic lawmakers need to have confidence in a labor reform passed this year by Lopez Obrador’s left-leaning government.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal led a delegation of House Democrats that was to meet with Lopez Obrador, other officials and workers on Tuesday to hear more about Mexico’s labor situation.

“They want to know if the labor law will be implemented… of course we will comply with enforcing this law,” Lopez Obrador told his regular news conference.

“The reform is so that… workers can freely choose their representatives, and so there is union democracy and better wages for workers,” he said.

The USMCA trade deal, which would replace the trillion-dollar North American Free Trade Agreement, risks getting bogged down in the 2020 U.S. presidential election race if U.S. lawmakers do not ratify it soon.

Mexico’s Congress has already approved the deal. It also needs ratification from Canadian lawmakers.

Lopez Obrador called for ratification as soon as possible.

Top Republicans in the U.S. Congress and U.S. trade groups on Tuesday pressed lawmakers to approve the deal and not allow an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump to delay it.

Ann Wilson, chief lobbyist for the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association, said industry had delayed key investments given continued uncertainty over the agreement a year after it was signed by the three countries’ leaders.

“We don’t have time to waste. We need to get it done,” she said.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Representative Kevin Brady, top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, urged Democrats to move quickly on the trade agreement.

“With election year politics upon us, time isn’t on our side. But the window of opportunity hasn’t closed yet. Democrats must act now,” they said in a joint statement.

Democrats say they are seeking better mechanisms in the trade agreement to ensure enforcement of labor and environmental provisions. One measure under consideration is providing aid to Mexico to beef up its enforcement of labor rules.

(Reporting by Anthony Esposito in Mexico City and Andrea Shalal in Washington, Additional reporting by Abraham Gonzalez; Writing by Daina Beth Solomon, Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Dan Grebler)