At the same time, Minister Ildefonso Guajardo is scheduled to deliver the document to the Mexican Senate, which is tasked with evaluating and deciding whether to approve the agreement. The 1994 deal underpins $1.2 trillion in annual trade between Canada , Mexico and the United States.
Canadian officials say there is no rush to get an agreement since any move to recast NAFTA as a bilateral deal would have to be approved by the U.S. Congress.
Mexico on Friday evening will publish the text of its trade agreement with the USA, giving the public its first in-depth look at a deal that would replace NAFTA – and potentially exclude Canada, amid a call from Mexico’s incoming leader to preserve the three-country pact.
"In the coming 48 hours, we will learn if we go ahead with the text of the trilateral agreement or it would be necessary to introduce the text on the bilateral understanding [between Mexico and the United States] and to determine the legal actions required to ensure the possibility of switching to the trilateral framework after it", Guajardo told Mexican lawmakers on Friday.
Guajardo said his USA and Canadian counterparts "specifically requested" a delay in publishing the text. He said both that there’s a "good chance still" that the US and Canada will reach a deal, but also that "probably or possibly" they won’t.
The release of the formal text will come ahead of its formal presentation to U.S. Congress by month’s end, so the lawmakers can approve it by December 1 […]
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