Mexico's foreign minister said Sunday the country would not accept a US proposal for steel and aluminum production under the new trade deal, saying it would leave Mexico at a disadvantage.
During a meeting with senators to discuss details of negotiations for the United States-Mexico-Canada treaty (USMCA), Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the US proposed that 70 percent of steel for automobile production come from the North American region.
The proposal would put Mexico "at a very great disadvantage," said Ebrard, because cars produced in Mexico also use components made in Brazil, Japan and Germany.
Ebrard said the Mexican delegation will ask at the next meeting of treaty representatives that the provision come into effect "more than 5 years" after the start of the trade pact, rather than immediately.
Mexico will also not accept "any term" for aluminum provisions, Ebrard said, because they do not have the resources to produce aluminum.
Mexico is one of the world's largest automobile exporters due to multiple brands -- including General Motors, Nissan, Fiat-Chrysler and Volkswagen -- building facilities in the country.
Ebrard's comments come just a few days after after Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he would not accept a US proposal for supervisors to oversee the implementation of Mexico's labor reforms under the USMCA.
Mexico is the only country so far to ratify the new deal, negotiated at US President Donald Trump's behest to replace the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which he considers "a disaster" for the United States.
In a bid to comply with its commitments under the new deal, which was signed in November 2018, Mexico has raised its minimum wage and passed labor reforms to give unions more power and workers more say in running them.
But US labor groups and opposition Democrats in the House of Representatives have voiced skepticism over the Mexican government's ability to enforce the new rules.
That has led to a drawn-out ratification process in the United States, where the trade deal now risks getting mixed up in Trump's ongoing impeachment drama and electoral politics heading into his 2020 re-election campaign.
Canada has said it will ratify the deal in tandem with the US.
Agence France-Presse
Mexico ratified the new North American trade agreement Wednesday, making the country the first to give it final approval despite recent tension with the US.
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) passed in the Mexican Senate with 114 votes in favor and just four against, sending what the government called "a clear message in favor of an open economy and deepening economic integration in the region."
"This means foreign investment in Mexico, jobs in Mexico, access to the US market for our products," said President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
There was little doubt the new deal would pass easily in Mexico: the very similar agreement it aims to replace, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), has helped turn the country into an exporting powerhouse over the past 25 years.
The next move now belongs to Canada and, especially, the US.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is due to visit President Donald Trump and US Congressional leaders Thursday to push for ratification of USMCA, among other issues.
The deal faces a battle in the US Congress, where opposition Democrats have criticized its worker protections, dispute resolution system and other issues.
Still, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Tuesday he was confident there would be progress on ratification in "the next couple of weeks."
He called Mexico's ratification "a crucial step forward."
In Canada, ratification looks assured -- though the government is waiting to move forward until the United States does.
The three countries signed the agreement on November 30 after a year of thorny negotiations triggered by Trump's insistence on replacing NAFTA, which he calls "the worst trade deal ever made."
The new deal largely resembles the original, but notably establishes new rules for the crucial auto sector, intended to boost US-made content in cars and increase wages for Mexican workers.
BITTERNESS OVER TRUMP'S 'BLACKMAIL'
Tension between the US and Mexico has been rife since Trump threatened last month to impose tariffs on all Mexican exports over the surge of Central American migrants arriving at the two countries' border.
Mexico managed to negotiate a reprieve from the tariffs -- which were due to take effect June 10 -- by tightening controls at its southern border and expanding its policy of taking back migrants as their asylum requests are processed in the US.
But some Mexican lawmakers accused the executive branch of caving to Trump's bullying, and put ratification of the USMCA on hold until Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard agreed to testify on the exact extent of the migration deal.
Ebrard assured Congress he had not agreed to Trump's demand for a "safe third country agreement," in which migrants arriving in Mexican territory would have to seek asylum there rather than the US.
Trump has vowed to make Mexico agree to such a deal if he deems progress on the migration issue insufficient after 45 days.
After Ebrard's testimony, the Senate allowed the USMCA to move ahead.
But there were barbs in the Senate over Trump's apparent willingness to blow up the countries' free-trade relationship.
"We can't go on like this... Let's not bend over, let's not let ourselves be humiliated by threats and blackmail," said opposition Senator Antonio Garcia of the left-wing PRD party.
Still, he said he was voting for USMCA: "It's not the best deal, but it's the one we've got."
Mexico sends nearly 80 percent of its exports to the United States, and regional free trade is broadly popular here.
Analysts saw Mexico's early ratification of the trade deal as a strategic move.
"Mexico wants to show good will and ratifying the USMCA quickly could help somewhat so that the debate focuses on ratification in the US," said consulting firm Eurasia Group.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
