Trade deal fails to address US energy frms’ concerns

摘要

Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s energy independence agenda is prompting complaints from US oil and gas companies that increasing regulatory pressure is designed to erode their competitive edge in the country. US industry groups are directing their appeals to the White House to facilitate a resolution of the concerns, given the close working relationship between Lopez Obrador and President Donald Trump. But appealing to the US government to intervene also recognises the reality that the US-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) free trade agreement, which came into efect on 1 July, does not ofer explicit guarantees for protecting the historic changes that opened Mexico’s energy sector to foreign participation, four years before Lopez Obrador took ofce in December 2018.