by Sundance at The Conservative Treehouse
Things are getting very interesting as the clock ticks toward the end of the USMCA trade agreement.
Almost no one is watching the USMCA element because it quietly exists only in the background of events. However, pay close attention to the ancillary stories because they will eventually merge with the end of the USMCA and two bilateral trade agreements between the U.S-Canada and the U.S. and Mexico later this year.
NATO funding and Canadian economic independence, and by extension the EU and China, comes into the northern agreement. Border security and Mexican economic independence, and by extension immigration and China, comes into the southern agreement. The strength of MAGAnomic policy flows directly through both.
In the quiet sphere, a few days ago Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a key player in the trade program, announced sanctions against three Mexican financial organizations that underline the influence of the Mexican cartels and the Mexican government. [Treasury Announcement Here]
“The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued orders identifying three Mexico-based financial institutions—CIBanco S.A., Institution de Banca Multiple (CIBanco) [ORDER HERE], Intercam Banco S.A., Institución de Banca Multiple (Intercam) [ORDER HERE], and Vector Casa de Bolsa, S.A. de C.V. (Vector) [ORDER HERE]—as being of primary money laundering concern in connection with illicit opioid trafficking, and prohibit, respectively, certain transmittals of funds involving CIBanco, Intercam, and Vector. These orders are the first actions by FinCEN pursuant to the Fentanyl Sanctions Act and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, which provide Treasury with additional authorities to target money laundering associated with the trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, including by cartels”. (more)
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is furious. “The Treasury Department hasn’t provided a single piece of evidence to show that any money laundering was taking place,” she said. “We aren’t going to cover for anyone, there isn’t impunity here. They have to be able to demonstrate that there was actually money laundering, not with words, but with strong evidence.”
Secretary Scott Bessent has provided all of the evidence above in the three orders. However,…
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