Representatives of the Canadian, Mexican, and U.S. governments signed a draft version (WSJ) of a new trade agreement in Mexico City shortly after U.S. House Democrats said they would support it, setting the deal up for likely approval in the U.S. Congress.
The deal is set to replace 1994’s North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), as promised during U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. House Democratic leadership announced support for the renegotiated deal even as they unveiled articles of impeachment (NYT) against Trump the same day. The draft deal creates new labor (WaPo) and environmental protections, intellectual property protections, minimum wage requirements for auto manufacturers, and rules for e-commerce. Support from the AFL-CIO was key to the deal’s endorsement by Democrats.
PHOTO: Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland; Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador; Jesús Seade, Mexican deputy foreign minister for North America; U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer; and Mexican Labor Secretary Luisa María Alcalde participate in a meeting Tuesday at the Presidential Palace in Mexico City. (Carlos Jasso/Reuters)
