The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, assured this Wednesday that the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC) will remain in force until 2036 although the Administration of US President Donald Trump does not confirm during the review process that begins today its extension for a new period of 16 years.

The president sought to clarify the scope of the six-year review provided for in the trade agreement, pointing out that the meeting that representatives of the three countries will hold this Wednesday does not constitute a deadline for the continuity of the treaty.

"It is not a deadline today, but if the letter is not sent by the United States for the next 16 years, the treaty will be maintained for the 10 years that it is in force. Only there remains an annual review and in this period it will be possible to determine what characteristics that annual review would have. That is very important," he stated.

The Mexican leader reported that at 9:00 a.m. local time (3:00 p.m. GMT) a virtual meeting will be held between the United States trade representative, Jamieson Greer; the Canadian Minister Dominic LeBlanc and the Secretary of Economy of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard.

The president explained that the T-MEC establishes that, on the sixth anniversary of its entry into force, the three partners must carry out a joint review of its operation and define whether they wish to extend it for another 16 years.

According to him, Mexico and Canada have already formally expressed their willingness to extend the agreement, while the United States' decision is part of the talks that begin this Wednesday.

"If today there is no decision by the United States to extend 16 years, the treaty will be maintained for the next 10 years, which is its validity, until 2036, and would be reviewed every year," he said.

Sheinbaum insisted that the absence of an immediate decision would not mean the end of the trade agreement.

"That is, the treaty does not end, but rather continues for 10 years with reviews that will be defined by the work that will be done jointly starting today," he said.

Likewise, he highlighted that the three countries retain the possibility of agreeing on an extension at any time before the current validity of the treaty ends.

Sheinbaum also announced that a delegation from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) will travel to Mexico on July 20 to continue the conversations arising from this review.

The T-MEC entered into force on July 1, 2020, replacing NAFTA. The six-year review was incorporated during its negotiation to evaluate the operation of the agreement and define a possible extension of its validity, a mechanism that this Wednesday formally begins with the conversations between the three North American partners. EFE

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