MEXICO CITY, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is at the threshold of its final ratification and there would be little chance of a reversal, a Mexican official said Friday.
"The end of this complex story is approaching, and we will soon see the United States starting the formal process for the approval of the treaty," said Jesus Seade, undersecretary for North America of the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's daily press conference.
According to Seade, U.S. legislators dispelled all doubts concerning how Mexico will implement the provisions on labor matters included in the renewed pact.
Moreover, the ratification will be easier in Canada due to the electoral victory of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party this week, he said.
"Given all these reasons, we trust that we are at the threshold of the final ratification of the treaty in the remaining two North American countries ... we expect with pride and optimism that the treaty will come into force in the coming months," Seade said.
Mexico was the first of the three trade partners to ratify the USMCA in June, but the Canadian and U.S. legislatures must also endorse the terms of the agreement before it takes effect.
Lopez Obrador said that the ratification of the deal will benefit the three trade partners, and it will become an important engine for Mexico's development and investment attraction.
USMCA is designed to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a free trade pact signed in 1994 between the three countries. U.S. President Donald Trump blamed the 1994 deal for the loss of industrial jobs in his country.
