Mexican President-Elect Wants Friendly Ties With US, to Remain in NAFTA

The winner of Mexico's presidential election, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, announced that he was planning to seek friendly relations with the US, despite Donald Trump's plans to build a wall on the border between the two countries.

In early June, US President Donald Trump declared that the construction of the wall had commenced, after previously stating that he would not approve any immigration bill that excluded a wall on the Mexican border.

The US president has also asked governors in the border states to deploy between 2,000 and 4,000 National Guard troops to the border to strengthen the border patrol.

In March, the US Congress passed a spending bill that included $1.6 billion in appropriations to build the wall, although it was less than the $25 billion sought by the Trump administration.

READ MORE: Trump Announces He 'Started the Wall'

On NAFTA Deal

The Mexican president-elect went on to say that he would endeavor to maintain the NAFTA trade deal with the US and Canada, which has been hampered in recent months due to the strained trade relations between the US and Canada, one of its historic allies. Trump's introduction of 25 percent import tariffs on steel and 10 percent tariffs on aluminum has become a bone of contention between the countries. Canada's trade minister, Francois Philippe Champagne, called the staggering tariffs an attack "on the world economic order."

READ MORE: First Day of G7: US Tariffs, NAFTA Deal, Trump-Kim Summit Dominated Agenda

Sharing his views on the future of the NAFTA deal, Trump stated that the agreement could be turned into bilateral deals among the involved parties.