• PROMISE: Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said yesterday his Government is committed to respect labor rights and improve minimum wage in the country, something he wants to pen down in a letter he said he would send to US Speaker of the House, Democrat Nancy Pelosi.
• KEY MOMENT: The US Congress enters a phase of crucial weeks that will determine whether the new US, Mexico and Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) will pass this year or if it will be left abandoned until 2020; Democratic members have insisted they need vigorous labor enforcement.
• PIECE OF CAKE: “They do want to be certain that we are going to comply by improving the working conditions of Mexican workers; as it is said colloquially, that for us is a piece of cake, because we agree fully, without them encouraging us, because they are our convictions”, says López Obrador.
• ODDS: Despite some optimism among Mexican negotiators, it is still uncertain whether the Democratic majority in the House would be willing to give Trump a victory ahead of the beginning of the 2020 election cycle; Mexico is the US largest trading partner since early this year.
