The congresswoman Texan Sylvia Garcia assured today that the imposition of tariffs on Mexican imports announced by President Donald Trump shakes the ratification of the T-MEC trade agreement, signed with Mexico and Canada.
“Obviously, when you have a three-party agreement, you need all parties to feel that they are being treated fairly, you have to make sure that there is a good relationship, you can not have that when you are launching a collateral attack imposing tariffs,” Garcia argued. interview with Efe at the Capitol.
Trump announced last Thursday taxes of 5% on all products from Mexico as of June 10, in retaliation for the migration crisis on the border, and threatened to raise them to 25% if the flow does not stop.
In this sense, Garcia warned that while tariffs of 5% “may delay” the confirmation of the T-MEC, a hypothetical rise of up to 25% could have a “greater impact” on the agreement reached by the three countries in the past November, which replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Also, the representative in the Lower House of District 29 of Texas considered that Trump has been “very badly advised” in the decision to sanction all Mexican imports.
“It hurts us all and, in particular, Texas … Our biggest commercial ally is Mexico … It would be devastating for our economy, it would hurt many jobs and many people, I hope the president reconsiders and does not do it” , analyzed Garcia, 68 years old.
Despite the agreement reached between the three countries last year, the T-MEC must still be ratified by the legislatures of the three signatory countries.
One of the most important figures for this to happen in the Congress is the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Democrat Nancy Pelosi, of whom Garcia is a close figure, and who has the authority to discuss the trade agreement in plenary session. from that camera controlled by the opposition.
In this regard, the Texas legislator said that “there is no clear indication” about when Trump will send the proposal to Congress for ratification, but explained that Pelosi is attentive to a series of changes that would make a hypothetical approval more comfortable.
Among other aspects, he pointed out that the pact needs some modifications with respect to workers’ rights and salaries, environmental issues and issues related to large pharmaceutical companies.
“I do not believe that (as the agreement is) it would be automatically approved” in Congress.
On the other hand, given the Trump government’s insistence that Mexico “must do more” to face the migratory “crisis” on the common border between the two countries, Garcia warned that a “smarter” approach is necessary.
In this regard, he pointed out that the strategy should focus more on curbing the smuggling of weapons, drugs and people than in families that come to the country seeking asylum “to find a better future” than they have in their countries of origin.
“We need to improve our security but in a way that we are smarter with technology, with sensors and other improvements, and more better trained personnel,” said García, whose state occupies much of the border with Mexico.
“Just as we can take a picture of what is happening on Mars and the Moon thanks to NASA, we should certainly be able to track the activity of smugglers on the border,” said the first Latina with Verónica Escobar. in representing Texas in Washington. (EFEUSA) .-
