San Diego, CA.- From the Oval Office, President Trump announced a new trade deal with Mexico.
The deal was announced as a conference call with the President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto.
The deal is expected to be called the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement.
Peña Nieto noted in the conference call, "We think this is something very positive for the U.S. and Mexico, we are celebrating the negotiating between our two countries. It's been a negotiation for quite a few months, to review, modernize and update NAFTA. It is our wish, that now Canada will also be incorporated in this, and I assume that they are going to carry out negotiations between Canada and the United States. And I am very grateful to you Mr. President, for your political will and your desire to get this done."
President Trump noted, "The negotiation was a difficult one, but it is the result of good understanding and good work. Working with you, Peña Nieto has been a pleasure. Working with the President-Elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador has also been a pleasure," President Trump continued, "This is something that's very special for our manufactures and farmers for both countries. This makes it a much more fair bill, our representatives have gotten along very well, and have worked very hard to fashion this bill. We haven't started with Canada yet, we wanted to get Mexico done first. We've made it much simpler, much better for both countries."
What the Deal Means
The agreement currently includes only the U.S. and Mexico, with the next step bringing Canada into the fold to complete the facelift of the 24-year-old pact.
President Trump said farmers in Mexico and the U.S. should feel the deals impacts "rather quickly."
Mr. Trump said that he would call Justin Trudeau “very soon” but cautioned that Canada's 300 percent tariffs on American dairy products could limit the prospects of any agreement. The president suggested that the United States might add tariffs to Canadian car imports in response.
The president has often floated the idea of reworking NAFTA into one or more bilateral deals, but many practical hurdles stand in the way of him doing so.
Republican lawmakers, North American industries and Canadian and Mexican officials have all objected to the plan. President Trump said U.S. and Mexican trade negotiators worked through the weekend to complete the deal on key provisions of the agreement.
Mexico to Nationalize Oil?
The deal comes just after a story broke that Mexico will likely halt oil auctions for at least two years, dealing a blow to its oil industry.
President-Elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) has reportedly decided to suspend oil auctions for at least two years, according to the Wall Street Journal, with some experts believing that his administration won’t hold any new oil auctions at all during his six-year term.
According to the report, "AMLO wants to revise some of the energy laws that govern the oil and gas sector, which could dramatically alter the landscape for foreign oil and gas companies. He long opposed the historic reforms that ended seven decades of state control over the energy sector, although he moderated his position during this year’s presidential campaign."
Mexico would have to change the country's constitution in order to enact the reforms.