U.S., Canada & Mexico approve changes to new NAFTA deal

#NAFTA; #CanadaUnitedStatesMexicoAgreement

Mexico, Dec 10 (Canadian-Media): An announcement was made by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Tuesday about months long-overdue new agreement on the North American trade agreement (NAFTA) renegotiated deal, media reports said.

Nancy Pelosi. Image credit: Twitter handle

Pelosi said that the main areas of concerns of the democrats such as workers' rights, the environment and prescription drugs, had been taken care of in the renegotiation and added that the amended agreement is definitely better than the one proposed by Trump administration. 

"This is a day we've all been working to, and working for on the path to yes," said Pelosi.
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"There is no question, of course, that this trade agreement is much better than NAFTA, but in terms of our work here, it is infinitely better than what was initially proposed by the administration."

Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who flew to Mexico City, to meet with her counterparts to finalize the updated agreement, known as the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA in Canada, is expected to hold a media conference at the Canadian Embassy later Wednesday afternoon.

Freeland's team said there will a signing ceremony at 1 p.m. ET. U.S. for the modified NAFTA agreement.

Robert Lighthizer, U.S. President Donald Trump's trade representative, and Jared Kushner Trump's son-in-law and adviser, were expected to be there.

One of the main stumbling block for this long delay was fears of enforcing the new deal's higher labour and environmental standards in Mexico. ​

Mexican senators approved the proposed changes which were presented by Lighthizer to his Mexican counterpart Jesus Seade on Saturday.