How likely is the U.S. Congress to approve USMCA this year, and what sorts of complications would pushing its ratification into 2020 bring? How are political dynamics affecting the deal’s passage? If the trade pact is delayed further, to what extent will North America’s manufacturers suffer?
Jim Kolbe, Arturo Sarukhan, Michelle DiGruttolo, Miyako Yerick, Tamara Kay
At the end of the day, it was Mexico and Canada that won the hard-fought battle to preserve most of NAFTA, writes former Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo in The Washington Post.
In the annual meeting of the world’s largest economies, which starts on Friday in Argentina, it seemed that Latin America and its most pressing concerns – such as the crisis in Venezuela – would be the priorities. However, it is now clear that the current complex global dynamic will dominate.
Irene Estefanía, Ben Raderstorf
Articles & Op-Eds ˙
˙ The New York Times Español
CGTN’s Roee Ruttenberg spoke with Michael Shifter, president of Inter-American Dialogue, about US-Mexico trade relations after Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador visited the United States for a meeting with President Donald Trump.
November’s midterm elections altered the balance of power in Washington, and the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, which will mean new chairs on key committees, will play an important role in shaping US energy diplomacy and energy markets in the Western Hemisphere. At an event co-hosted by the Inter-American Dialogue and the Institute of the Americas, panelists discussed how the new Congress will approach key issues affecting energy within the context of Latin America’s evolving role in US trade and foreign policy.
This policy brief examines the regulatory changes in Mexico’s electric power sector made under the López Obrador administration. The brief analyzes the broader implications for Mexico’s economy and its trade and economic relations with its key trading partner, the United States. A full report will be forthcoming in October 2020.
Few neighbors have such deep and wide-ranging ties as the United States and Mexico. Both countries are bound not only by geography, but also through economic, security and social connections. Despite these strong connections—or perhaps because of them—the bilateral relationship is subject to strong pressures coming from domestic politics in both countries.
Over the past two years, the government of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has sought to strip away central aspects of the 2013 energy reform that increased private investment in the power sector and return control of the sector to state utility CFE. These moves will reduce needed investment in the sector and lead to higher electricity costs for Mexican industry and manufacturing, affecting employment, trade, and Mexico’s ability to meet its clean energy targets, according to this new report by the Inter-American Dialogue.