Mexico, Canada, US Sign Overhauled Trade Deal

MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th December, 2019) Officials from Mexico, Canada and the United States signed on Tuesday a document on fresh amendments to the regional trade pact, which allow to initiate the parliamentary ratification of the agreement.

"We have reached a fundamental agreement. This is an agreement that works for the benefit of the three peoples, nations and governments," Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced after signing the protocol of amendments to the agreement during the ceremony in Mexico City broadcast on the Mexican government's Twitter blog.

Work on revising the provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement began in 2017 and was marked by a number of conflicts, including the threat of the introduction of US duties on Canada.

The amended US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) revises the rules for participants' access to the domestic markets of the three countries, tariffs and some norms of labor legislation. After the signing, the document must be ratified by the respective parliaments. The new norms are expected to enter in force in June 2020.