Mexico asks US to resume trade at closed border crossings

Mexico asked the United States on Monday to resume trade at recently shut border crossings, citing the economic damage caused by their closure.

Trade between the two countries has been disrupted by the shutdown of three international bridges since mid-September, Mexico’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

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“In the note, the Government of Mexico asks for the resumption of cross-border trade,” the ministry statement said, referring to a diplomatic note it sent to the United States.

One of the crossings, from Ciudad Juarez to the US city of El Paso in Texas, will partially reopen on Tuesday after negotiations between the two countries, the ministry noted.

Mexico also asked for Washington’s help to stop the “exhaustive inspections of cargo trucks” by Texas authorities at certain border crossings, the ministry said.

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Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the diplomatic note protested the curbs, which he said have “political purposes” ahead of the US elections next November.

“They are obstructing customs, the free transit of goods… they harm both nations, they harm economic and commercial activity and of course the normal transit of people,” the president said.

The two countries share a border of almost 3,200 kilometers (1,990 miles), with the United States being Mexico’s main trading partner. Eighty percent of Mexico’s exports go to its northern neighbour, with most goods arriving by land.

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Lopez Obrador’s government has also asked the administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat, to intervene so that Texas, governed by Republican Greg Abbott, removes buoys installed to prevent the passage of migrants across the nations’ river border.