Washington (AFP)

The main negotiators of the new AEUMC free trade agreement, between the United States, Mexico and Canada, meet Tuesday in Mexico City to finalize the ratification of this treaty, one year after its signature.

The meeting will be chaired by the Mexican Head of State, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

"I confirm that (...) Tuesday, December 10, at 12:00 local time (18:00 GMT) teams of negotiators from Mexico, the United States and Canada will meet to present the progress made on the modernization of the AEUMC", an overhaul of the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (Alena), announced the Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard.

On the Canadian side, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday that he met with US President Donald Trump on the progress made in ratifying the agreement.

The two leaders said they look forward to continuing to work together and stay in touch during the final stages of the negotiations, Trudeau's office said in a statement.

For his part, Donald Trump was also optimistic.

"This is going very well on the AEUMC, unions and others tell me that it looks good," he said Monday the US president about the finalization of the treaty. "I am told that things are going well and that important progress has been made in the last 48 hours".

The AEUMC, which modernizes the Aléna treaty signed by Bill Clinton 25 years ago and intimately linked the three economies together, was signed by the three countries at the end of November 2018, but only the Mexican parliament. has for the moment ratified.

- "Close to an agreement in principle" -

The American Democrats, who have a majority in the House of Representatives, had quickly demanded amendments. And the main US negotiator has long since resumed talks with his Mexican counterpart to try to find the terms of an amendment to the agreement that particularly satisfies US unions.

Things now seem close to their conclusion.

According to the Washington Post, US Trade Representative Bob Lighthizer (USTR) will travel to Mexico City on Tuesday, as will President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to sign the agreement. Monday evening, the USTR services, interviewed by AFP, had not confirmed this move.

Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was also on her way to Mexico on Monday night, his services said.

Interviewed earlier in Ottawa, Justin Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister, said, "We are working very hard and we are hopeful of getting a ratification soon." Canadians are ready but have always said that they wait for Washington to ratify the text before doing it themselves.

"A final deal could be reached within 24 hours, according to several sources, paving the way for ratification," said the financial news channel Fox Business.

According to CNBC competitor, the White House and the Democratic opposition are "close to an agreement in principle" and a vote of ratification of the text could take place in Congress on December 18, if the text is presented by December 15 .

"I hope they (the Democrats) will put it to the vote and if they put it to the vote, it will pass," predicted the president.

- Mitigate the competition -

"We continue to consider the proposal, no agreement to announce for the moment," said a senior US Democratic advisor to AFP, however.

Donald Trump had denounced the Alena shortly after his arrival at the White House, after having vilified him throughout his campaign.

He accused the agreement of harming the United States and causing the destruction of thousands of jobs, especially in the manufacturing sector.

In the United States, the Democrats blocked ratification, under the impetus of the unions. They feared that there would be nothing to verify the application of the text, particularly the rise in hourly wages of Mexican workers in the automotive sector. This increase is intended to reduce competition among workers in the three countries.

According to Fox Business, Mexicans have agreed that the implementation of the agreement is supervised by "a neutral party", after long opposition.

The AEUMC also plans for the automotive sector a significant change in so-called original rules, prompting to provide much more US-made materials and components.

Mexico said Sunday it will amend the terms of the new agreement on steel and aluminum.

The terms of the AEUMC require Mexico to source 70 per cent of North America's steel supply - which is needed by its automotive industry. However, Mexico also provides a lot in Brazil, Japan and Germany.

Mexico will call at the next meeting of the negotiators of the new treaty that the implementation of the measure is not immediate, but postponed to "more than five years" after its entry into force, said Ebrard.

© 2019 AFP