Mexican president expects quick ratification of USMCA trade deal

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Thursday that he was optimistic for that his country’s Senate would approve the U.S.-Mexico-Canada-Agreement on trade “soon” and then send it to him for his signature.

He said he was “optimistic” that the U.S. Congress would approve it son as well.

“There is collective spirit in favor of approving the accord,” López Obrador told reporters Thursday.

López Obrador said his administration would send the trade deal, which would replace the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement, to the Congress of the Senate, the Mexican legislature’s upper house, on Thursday. The lawmakers will take it up in a special session.

Legislative action on USMCA in Mexico and Canada had been held up for months by a dispute between those countries and the White House over its tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum. The dispute was resolved earlier this month when the Trump administration agreed to restore exemptions Canada and Mexico previously had on U.S. tariffs.

[Related: Canada begins process to ratify USMCA trade deal]

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