President-Elect in Mexico Tells Trump Free Trade Zone on Border, NAFTA Will Deter Migration
It's worth it to make an effort to conclude NAFTA negotiations, Mexico's President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told President Donald Trump in a letter he sent July 12. The letter was read aloud to Mexican reporters on July 22. "I think that prolonging the uncertainty could curb investment in the medium and long term, which would obviously create problems for Mexico's economic growth," he wrote in Spanish. He said Canada should be at the table, too.
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Lopez Obrador, who began the letter by thanking Trump for his congratulatory phone call and for the trip of American emissaries earlier in July, reminded Trump that when Mexico (or Central America) has employment opportunities for its people, they are not inclined to migrate to the United States. He specifically called for a free trade zone in Mexico along the U.S. border, where income taxes would be reduced by 20 percent, where the value-added tax would be adjusted to match the sales taxes in the states on the other side of the border, the cost of electricity and gas would match U.S. costs, and the minimum wage would double. No import duties would be collected within this zone, which could stretch 20 to 30 kilometers from the border, he said.
He said that if development plans in the south of Mexico aren't effective to provide opportunity, this would be the final backstop to keep their people in their country. He signed the letter, "Sending you a warm hug."