Trump, Obrador Celebrate USMCA

U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador met in Washington, D.C., this week to celebrate USMCA. The agreement recently became the law of the land in North America. After multiple meetings among senior officials from both nations, the U.S. and Mexican presidents signed a joint declaration commemorating the July 1st entry-into-force of the USMCA.

During remarks to reports, Obrador lamented the North American region’s trade deficit with the rest of the world, which he says totals $611 billion. He’s hopeful USMCA will help North America capture a bigger share of the world economic output, which he says has fallen from 40.4% in 1970 to 27.8% currently. That statistic reflects China’s rising share of world economic growth over the past half-century.

Trump continued his attack on NAFTA, blaming it for lost jobs and low wages. Trump also promoted the labor protections in the new deal, saying it will “bring countless jobs from overseas and back to North America.”

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