WASHINGTON (AP) – With just two days to spare, United States (US) President Joe Biden signed legislation on Saturday that lifts the nation’s debt ceiling, averting an unprecedented default on the federal government’s debt.

Instead of holding a public ceremony with lawmakers from both parties – showcasing the bipartisanship that Biden had cited in an Oval Office address on Friday – the president signed the legislation in private in a reflection of the tight deadline facing the nation’s leaders.

The Treasury Department warned that the country would start running short of cash today, which would have sent shockwaves through the US and global economies.

The White House released a picture of the president signing the legislation. In a brief statement, Biden thanked Democratic and Republican congressional leaders for their partnership.

“No matter how tough our politics gets, we need to see each not as adversaries, but as fellow Americans,” Biden said in a video message released after the signing.

He said it was important to “stop shouting, lower the temperature, and work together to pursue progress, secure prosperity and keep the promise of America for everybody”.

The standoff began when Republicans refused to raise the country’s borrowing limit unless Democrats agreed to cut spending. Eventually, the White House began weeks of intense negotiations with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-California, to reach a deal.

The final agreement, passed by the House last Wednesday and the Senate last Thursday, suspends the debt limit until 2025 – after the next presidential election – and restricts government spending.

It gives lawmakers budget targets for the next two years in hopes of assuring fiscal stability as the political season heats up.

Raising the nation’s debt limit, now at USD31.4 trillion, will ensure that the government can borrow to pay debts already incurred.

After Congress passed the legislation, Biden used the occasion to deliver his first speech from the Oval Office as president on Friday.

“No one got everything they wanted but the American people got what they needed,” he said, highlighting the “compromise and consensus” in the deal.

“We averted an economic crisis and an economic collapse.”

Biden touted the achievements of his first term as he runs for reelection, including support for high-tech manufacturing, infrastructure investments and financial incentives for fighting climate change. He also highlighted ways he blunted Republican efforts to roll back his agenda and achieve deeper cuts.

Biden’s remarks were the most detailed comments from the Democratic president on the compromise he and his staff negotiated. He largely remained quiet publicly during the high-stakes talks.

In addition to restrictions on spending, the 99-page bill changes some policies, including imposing new work requirements for older Americans receiving food aid and greenlighting an Appalachian natural gas pipeline that many Democrats oppose.

Some environmental rules were modified to help streamline approvals for infrastructure and energy projects – a move long sought by moderates in Congress.

In both chambers, more Democrats backed the legislation than Republicans, but both parties were critical to its passage.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States (US) said on Friday it had requested dispute settlement consultations with Mexico, the next formal step in a row over the latter’s plans to phase out genetically engineered agricultural products.

The consultations, under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), come after Mexico announced plans to phase out the use of genetically engineered corn in animal feed and products for human consumption, among other measures, drawing ire from Washington.

“The US has repeatedly conveyed its concerns that Mexico’s biotechnology policies are not based on science and threaten to disrupt US exports to Mexico to the detriment of agricultural producers,” said US Trade Representative Katherine Tai in a statement.

“We will continue to work with the Mexican government through these consultations to resolve our concerns,” she added.

Mexico is the world’s second-largest buyer of yellow corn and imports a significant amount from the US, where most corn is genetically modified.

In February, the Mexican government softened its stance on the issue, saying exceptions could be granted for corn for animal feed and industrial food production while suitable substitutes are found, but held steady on banning genetically modified organism (GMO) corn for human consumption.

“We fundamentally disagree with the position Mexico has taken on the issue of biotechnology, which has been proven to be safe for decades,” said US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

In a statement late Friday, Mexico’s economy ministry said it had received the US request, and that it and other agencies would “demonstrate with hard data and evidence” that its policy does not have a material impact on US interests.

It said Mexico produces twice as much white corn as it uses for the production of tortillas, a staple food, so the “exclusive use of native corn for dough and tortillas is of no commercial concern or interest to the US”.

The US exported USD28 billion in agricultural goods to Mexico in 2022, while Mexico exported $43 billion of such goods to the US.

The US move on Friday follows an earlier request for technical consultations in March.

That process took place but failed to resolve the matter, a senior US official told reporters.

Looking ahead, the USMCA provides that a consulting party may ask for a dispute settlement panel to be set up if parties fail to resolve the matter within 75 days of the consultation request, officials added.

“In the consultations that are about to begin, Mexico reaffirms its commitment to promote a constructive dialogue to clarify US concerns and reach a mutually satisfactory agreement,” the Mexican statement said.

“The strong commercial ties between the two countries require us to act responsibly and with an open mind,” it concluded.

CAIRO (AP) – A tanker transporting curd oil broke down in a single-lane part of Egypt’s Suez Canal yesterday, disrupting traffic in the global waterway, Egyptian authorities said.

The Malta-flagged Seavigour suffered a mechanical malfunction at the 12-kilometre mark of the canal, said George Safwat, a spokesperson for Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority. The tanker was part of the north convoy, which transits the canal from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, he said.

In a phone interview with a local television station, Admiral Ossama Rabei, head of the Suez Canal Authority, said the tanker broke down in a single-lane part of the waterway, disrupting the transit of eight other vessels behind it.

He said three tugboats were towing it to a double-lane part at the 17-kilometre mark of the canal.

The Seavigour was built in 2016, and is 274 metres (m) long and 48.63m wide, according to MarineTraffic, a vessel tracking service provider.

Yesterday’s incident was the latest case of a vessel reported stuck in the vital waterway. A flurry of ships ran aground or broke down in the Suez Canal over the past few years.

On May 25, a Hong Kong-flagged ship (AP, pic above) briefly blocked the canal.

On March 5, a Liberia-flagged ship ran aground in the two-lane part of the waterway. Both vessels were refloated hours later.

In March 2021, the Panama-flagged Ever Given, a colossal container ship, crashed into a bank on a single-lane stretch of the canal, blocking the waterway for six days and disrupting global trade.

The canal, which opened in 1869, provides a crucial link for oil, natural gas and cargo. About 10 per cent of world trade flows through the canal, a major source of foreign currency for the Egyptian government.

According to the Suez Canal Authority, last year, 23,851 vessels passed through the waterway, compared to 20,649 vessels in 2021. The revenue from the canal in 2022 reached USD8 billion, the highest in its history.