Cruz, Cornyn complain to Trump that Mexico Is undermining USMCA

U.S. Senators including John Cornyn and Ted Cruz sent a letter to President Donald Trump arguing that Mexico’s energy policy undermines the spirit of the USMCA trade agreement.

Six senators and 37 members of Congress signed the letter, whose authenticity was confirmed by Cornyn spokeswoman Natalie Yezbick. The signatories accuse Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of giving preferential treatment to protect state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos and state utility company Comision Federal de Electricidad.

Mexico’s actions “threaten U.S. energy companies’ investment and market access and undermine the spirit of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USCMA),” the letter says, adding that the administration is delaying or outright canceling permits for U.S. energy companies.

The note was signed by mostly Republican lawmakers, but was joined by a handful of Democrats, including California Representative Jim Costa and New Mexico Representative Xochitl Torres Small.

Representatives for Lopez Obrador and his energy ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The rebuke comes at a delicate time for Lopez Obrador. He has tried to keep Mexico out of the cross-hairs of the U.S. elections in order to avoid a repeat of 2016. In the previous election, Mexico became a punching bag for Trump, who called immigrants from the country criminals and rapists and vowed to build a wall between the two countries.

The Mexican government has faced widespread criticism and multiple court challenges because of its energy policies.

Earlier this year, Lopez Obrador tried to block some existing wind and solar power projects and make it harder to get new ones going. Many of the measures, which would have helped limit private competition to the federal utility company, have been suspended by Mexican courts after a lawsuit filed by environmental activist group Greenpeace.

Separately, early in his term, Lopez Obrador halted a program that opened Mexico’s energy industry to private investment through oil bloc auctions.