Our government overwhelmingly approved NAFTA 2.0, the T-MEC, which allows free trade between Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. Under this agreement, goods manufactured in North America can be imported and exported within North America duty free.

This new trade deal will benefit all three countries:

• Automobiles must have 75% of their components manufactured in the U.S., Canada or Mexico to qualify as duty free.
• 40-45% of automobile parts must be made by workers that earn at least $16 USD per hour by 2023.
• Improves digital trade – prohibits duties on music and e-books, as examples.

In reality, though, we have many non-tariff barriers in place that are the exact opposite of free trade. In order to protect industries in Mexico, the government has added or increased regulations that restrict the flow of goods into our country:

• Avisos Automaticos – permits on steel and steel products.
• Normas Oficiales Mexicanas (NOM) – certification requirements for import.
• Precios Estimados – minimum import values to protect Mexican Manufacturing.

How many more are going to be put into place? We need to let the protectionism go and make it easier for other countries to do business with Mexico.

On the World Bank's 2019 Ease of Doing Business Report (an index that measures the impact of regulations in 190 world economies), our ranking is 54. This is well below the U.S. (8) and Canada (22), our North American trading partners. This needs to change.

We need to stop the bureaucracy and make it easier to do business with Mexico, so we can create more jobs and help our economy grow.