<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><strong class="">Mexico's López Obrador backs increased wages in NAFTA 2.0</strong><o:p class=""></o:p></p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">By Sabrina Rodriguez <o:p class=""></o:p></div><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">05/21/2018 12:58 PM EDT<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">The Mexican presidential front-runner Andrés Manuel López Obrador fully endorsed the Trump administration's efforts to push for higher wages in Mexico as part of the talks to renegotiate NAFTA.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">"On this, I agree [with President Donald Trump], that we have to raise wages in Mexico," López Obrador said during a two-hour televised debate involving the leading candidates for an election taking place on July 1. "We can't talk about a trade agreement if there isn't equality in wages, if we don't look for equality of wages."<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">The U.S. has sought to tie a new deal to higher wages, saying that a certain percentage of a car must be produced by workers earning at least $15 an hour. Mexican negotiators have repeatedly <a href="http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=45cb205d93f6411da271931cc2f9b515b75ef60ebc7502b17bc39dadbc647851cc30123ede10bbdaa9e56eaea8a14486" target="_blank" style="color: purple;" class="">dismissed</a> such a threshold as a nonstarter.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">López Obrador and the other main candidates — José Antonio Meade from the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party and Ricardo Anaya from a right-left coalition —<b class=""> </b>did not describe their priorities on a NAFTA re-do, should talks still be going on after one of them is elected. But they all were adamant that they did not appreciate the lack of respect reflected in Trump's critical rhetoric about Mexico and immigration.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">"We have opportunities in many parts of the world, and we'll take advantage of them, but before we talk about trade and investment, we have to talk about respect," Meade said during the debate in Tijuana, Mexico. "In my government, we will not allow any agreement of any type on any topic that isn't based on respect."<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">The three candidates have all previously expressed the desire to continue talks between the U.S., Mexico and Canada to reach a modernized deal. However, business leaders in both countries have worried that López Obrador's nationalist agenda could affect progress in the renegotiation if he wins the election.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">"I maintain that the best foreign policy is domestic," López Obrador said. My team "is in agreement and we should take advantage of the relationship with the United States — a relationship of friendship and mutual respect."<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">López Obrador also rejected the argument that he might launch a trade war if he follows through on plans to cut Mexican imports of U.S. corn if he wins. López Obrador, nicknamed AMLO, has repeatedly emphasized how he wants to increase national corn production if he takes office.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">"There won't be a trade war. We're going to understand each other. We're going to make Donald Trump enter reason."<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">Any cut to U.S. corn sales to Mexico would be a blow to American growers. Last year, the U.S. sold upward of 15 million metric tons of corn to Mexico, according to USDA figures.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">López Obrador continues to maintain a double digit lead in early polls ahead of the July election. Anaya, former head of the more conservative National Action Party, and Meade, who has served in various minister-level roles under opposing administrations, have struggled to cut into AMLO's poll numbers.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><div class=""><br class=""></div></body></html>