MEXICO CITY: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday urged US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to decide on ratification of a North American trade pact, even as Mexican business groups fretted that proposed changes were weakening the deal.
He said Mexican senators had agreed to changes hammered out in recent weeks to satisfy US' demands for increased labor and environmental enforcement in the deal, which was struck more than a year ago but must be ratified by legislators in the three countries before it goes into effect. "We are not in a hurry to approve modifications that contradict the original agreements," employers confederation Coparmex said in a statement, adding it wanted greater consultation with the government before more ground was ceded.Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Sunday that the country would accept the new U.S. demand on steel, which could affect what steel is defined as Mexican, if the rule took effect at least five years after the trade pact's ratification.
Mexico's association of bus and truck makers said it feared such a change would raise costs in the supply chain.