The G20 summit sees the emergence of a "new NAFTA" in the form of an agreement between Mercosur and the EU that does not advance International

The signing of the T-MEC in Buenos Aires is not without paradox. A good agreement in North America is signed well south. Meanwhile, in Mercosur, the market including Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay has failed for years in negotiations with the European Union for the conclusion of a trade agreement. Macri dreamed of signing the agreement at the G20, but he could not. French President Emmanuel Macron was clear on Thursday. After meeting with his Argentinian counterpart, he declared that relations with Argentina were the best but that there still existed insurmountable differences in the conclusion of a free trade agreement with the southern bloc. -American.

Asked about Macron's statements, President-elect Jair Bolsonaro said he would "try his best." "We are responsible for the environment, but we can not have people in the environment [Ministério do] with a Shia thought," Bolsonaro said. On the agenda of Guarantinguetá (SP), the elected president spoke of Macri 's appeal to the future foreign minister, Ernesto Araújo, about the agreement with the government. European Union. Argentina would have recommended "to have a little more patience". "From the moment we have to reduce the amount of our exports, these products can not of course count on our support."

USMCA

According to Peña Nieto, the agreement with the United States and the United States Canada was his last act as president: he will step down this Saturday, January 1. In December, Andrés Manuel López Obrador will take command of the second largest power in Latin America, behind Brazil. "I salute you to end your presidency with this incredible feat, "said Trump in his usual hyperbolic tone, before saying goodbye to the Mexican.Before the signing, the head of state and the Mexican government have decorated – despite the great controversy – the highest national distinction: the Order of the Aztec eagle, Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and one of the protagonists of the negotiations despite the lack of reproach

Presidents' Presence was purely After their speeches, the three signatories, sitting at the same table, ordered their trade ministers to negotiate – authentic negotiators of the text. Among them were Robert Lighthizer, US Trade Representative; Mexico's Secretary of the Economy Ildefonso Guajardo and Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland. The three countries will now trade under new rules, after negotiating changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the framework that bound them since 1994. The rough negotiations were for Trump to win policy. And that was said Friday in Buenos Aires.

"This is probably the largest trade agreement ever, a model deal that will forever change the business landscape, and all our countries will benefit greatly," he said of the pact. Then he promised "paid jobs in the manufacturing sector" and "a phenomenal treaty on farmers" in the United States. It was a speech in the United States, during which he had repeatedly promised for months that he would get a "fairer" treaty for the workers of his country or would abandon the trade agreement that allowed the creation of the most large free trade area of ​​the world and increase trade. between the three countries. His two partners listened to him in a scene reminiscent of that three months ago. Trump listened to his Mexican counterpart on the phone in the Oval Office: all the projectors, at the time and now, were in the US. "Trade agreements can not remain static, they must evolve according to the needs of our economy," added Peña Nieto in his last speech to the presidency on Friday.

The new pact was signed under the shadow of customs duties. The intention of Mexico and Canada was to arrive so far without tariffs of 25% on steel imports and 10% on aluminum imports imposed by the United States is applied. But they finally agreed that these taxes would remain in force pending further negotiations. For Mexico, in the meantime – and on the sidelines – the signing of the agreement is good news: Washington is by far its main investor and its first trading partner – 80% of its exports end up in its northern neighbor – especially in the United States. automotive industry. This industry concentrates the bulk of Mexican concessions for the signing of the treaty: a percentage of cars manufactured in North America will require minimal production in high-wage areas – the United States and Canada, with Mexico being implicitly included; the chapter on labor will be strengthened, one of the points on which the competitiveness of Mexico was founded in recent decades – wages in the manufacturing industry are up to six times lower in Mexico only among its regional partners; and intellectual property, with changes in pharmaceutical patents that will affect the operations of this industry on Mexican soil.

Trump was able to use the T-MEC as a weapon against those who accuse him of blowing up the rules of free trade. In any case, the Friday Buenos Aires law forms made it clear that the United States would defend world trade, but in accordance with its rules. The same is true of the negotiations at the time of Trump.