<div dir="auto"><div style="font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.8px" dir="auto"><div style="width:380.19px;margin:16px 0px"><p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-mexico-usmca/mexico-becomes-first-country-to-ratify-usmca-trade-deal-via-senate-vote-idUSKCN1TK2U3" style="text-decoration-line:none;color:rgb(66,133,244)">ttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-mexico-usmca/mexico-becomes-first-country-to-ratify-usmca-trade-deal-via-senate-vote-idUSKCN1TK2U3</a></p><p><u></u></p><p><u></u><br></p><p style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:'arial',sans-serif;color:rgb(63,63,64);text-transform:uppercase"><a href="https://www.reuters.com/news/archive/ousivMolt" style="text-decoration-line:none;color:rgb(66,133,244)"><span style="font-family:inherit;border:1pt none;padding:0in">BUSINESS NEWS</span></a><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:inherit;color:rgb(113,115,117);text-transform:uppercase">JUNE 19, 2019 / 4:00 PM / UPDATED 30 MINUTES AGO<u></u><u></u></span></p><h1 style="margin-right:0in;margin-left:55.25pt;font-size:24pt;font-family:'calibri',sans-serif;font-weight:inherit;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit"><span style="font-size:30pt;font-family:'arial',sans-serif;color:rgb(63,63,64)">Mexico becomes first country to ratify USMCA trade deal via Senate vote<u></u><u></u></span></h1><p align="right" style="margin-left:0in;text-align:right;background:white;vertical-align:middle;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;line-height:inherit"><u></u><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:symbol">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"times new roman"">         </span></span><u></u><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:inherit"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p align="right" style="margin-left:0in;text-align:right;background:white;vertical-align:middle"><u></u><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:symbol">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"times new roman"">         </span></span><u></u><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:inherit"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:22.5pt;margin-left:55.25pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:'times new roman',serif;color:rgb(49,49,50)">MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico on Wednesday became the first country to ratify the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) agreed last year by the three countries to replace the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:22.5pt;margin-left:55.25pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit"><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:'times new roman',serif;color:rgb(49,49,50)">By an overwhelming majority, Mexico’s Senate backed the trade deal negotiated between 2017 and 2018 after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw from NAFTA if he could not get a better trade deal for the United States.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:22.5pt;margin-left:55.25pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;line-height:inherit;letter-spacing:0.2rem"><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:'times new roman',serif;color:rgb(49,49,50)">Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had already said the deal would be ratified this week in the Senate, where his leftist National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) and its allies have a comfortable majority in the 128-member chamber.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:22.5pt;margin-left:55.25pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit"><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:'times new roman',serif;color:rgb(49,49,50)">There has been little parliamentary opposition in Mexico to trying to safeguard market access to United States, by far Mexico’s most important export market, and the deal was backed by nearly all the opposition lawmakers who voted.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:22.5pt;margin-left:55.25pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;line-height:inherit;letter-spacing:0.2rem"><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:'times new roman',serif;color:rgb(49,49,50)">The USMCA was ratified with 114 Senators voting in favor and four against. There were three abstentions.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:22.5pt;margin-left:55.25pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit"><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:'times new roman',serif;color:rgb(49,49,50)">Three of the four votes against the deal came from MORENA senators, as did one abstention. The other vote against the deal was from an independent senator, while two members of the center-right National Action Party (PAN) also abstained.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:22.5pt;margin-left:55.25pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit"><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:'times new roman',serif;color:rgb(49,49,50)">Seven senators were not present for the vote.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:'calibri',sans-serif;line-height:19.5pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:inherit;color:rgb(113,115,117)">Reporting by Miguel Angel Lopez; Editing by Dave Graham and Tom Brown<u></u><u></u></span></p><p><u></u> </p></div></div><br><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature">Arthur Stamoulis<br>Citizens Trade Campaign <br>(202) 494-8826</div></div>