MONDAY
1. CURRENT ISSUES
2. STATISTICS
3. ANALYTICAL COMMENTARY
WEDNESDAY
4. THEORY
USMCA
5. ANALYTICS
Will the USMCA Change Mexico for the Better?
VOCABULARY & GRAMMAR
KEY TERMS
| term | condition |
| approve amendment | to confirm formally, accept an alteration of or addition to a bill, constitution, etc. |
| pass legislation | to bring in a new law by voting in parliament or by decree |
| ratify | to confirm by expressing consent, approval, or formal sanction |
| impose | to apply by authority; force the acceptance of |
| provision | a clause in a legal instrument, a law, etc., providing for a particular matter |
| infringement | an act of interfering with someone’s rights |
| terminate | to bring to an end, dismiss |
| violation | a breaking of a law |
| incorporate | to introduce (something) as a basic part |
FOCUS WORDS
| anticipate | ожидать, предвосхищать, предчувствовать |
| concession | уступка |
| postpone | откладывать, отсрочивать |
| determine | определять, устанавливать |
| reject | отвергать, отклонять |
| crucial | решающий, ключевой, критический |
| compliance | согласие, соблюдение, соответствие |
| abandon | отказываться от, оставлять, покидать |
| reluctant | вынужденный, неохотный |
| enforcement | приведение в исполнение |
PREPOSITIONS
- obstacle to
- consequences for
- in particular
- change for the better
- reasons for
- benefits of
- relate to
- acceptable to
- focused on
- compliance with
- disregard for
- succeed in
- invest in
- sanctions for
- on the grounds
WORDS FOR REPORT
| grow at a modest pace |
| the turnout rates |
| account for |
| to be projected to reach |
| respectively |
| a higher share of |
| considerably less likely |
| the median age |
GRAMMAR PATTERNS
The House vote came more than a year after the three countries’ leaders signed the USMCA in Buenos Aires in November 2018 – a longer wait than many had anticipated, but shorter than others had expected after the Republicans lost their House majority in last year’s midterm elections.
Officials and analysts in the three countries had been hopeful that Congress would approve the agreement.
But if the pact is intended to boost Mexico’s economic growth and welfare, and bolster the rule of law, it will not achieve these goals any time soon.
The political issue was obvious: if Pelosi supported the USMCA (thereby showing that the Democrats could “do the people’s business”), she would give Trump a win at the same time that the House was impeaching him.
But if she opposed the pact on the grounds that it failed to meet the demands of US labor organizations, she would expose the Democrats to Trump’s charge that they are interested only in overturning the result of the 2016 election.
But if the pact is intended to boost Mexico’s economic growth and welfare, and bolster the rule of law, it will not achieve these goals any time soon.
Many congressional Democrats demanded that the agreement be revised to allow US officials to conduct unannounced in situ inspections of plants and companies in Mexico.
The new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement may well succeed in marginally improving America’s position regarding jobs, investment, labor, the environment, and dispute settlement.