Canada, an important T-MEC country, ensures the SE

The T-MEC will continue to be trilateral at the conclusion of the review, since there is a regional vision of trade, said Luis Rosendo Gutiérrez, undersecretary of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Economy (SE), before businessmen and diplomatic representatives.

“We believe that at the end of the review of the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada we will have a trilateral agreement in which Canada is a fundamental part,” said the official in a forum organized by the Mexican Business Council for Foreign Trade, Investment and Technology.

“Our vision, and I think it is also Canada’s, is regional. If we are together, we are stronger,” he added.

To date, Canada has not formally joined the first round of the T-MEC review, which will take place on the 16th.

However, José Medina Mora, president of the Business Coordinating Council, said in an interview, after participating in another forum: “the review will be carried out with separate dialogues with the United States and Canada, to ensure the continuity of the trade pact.

“The free trade agreement is trilateral. However, it has bilateral agreements; that is, in the bilateral relationship there are different aspects in the relationship, for example, Mexico-United States or different from the United States-Canada and Mexico-Canada relationship,” he noted.

“We will advance in the dialogues with both countries separately, but with the idea that this review is successful and the trilateral treaty continues,” he indicated.

Gutiérrez reiterated that the priority issues are the rules of origin, the strengthening of regional supply chains and the substitution of extra-regional inputs for production within North America.

“Let us remember that between the United States and Mexico more than 400 billion dollars are being imported from Asia. And although we cannot bring everything we would like from Asia, […] Yes, there are many things that we can bring to produce here,” he said. “We are already seeing it with some of the largest industries in our country, such as the automotive industry,” added the undersecretary.

The official also stressed that the participation of the private sector will be decisive in the review process.

Accompaniment

Medina Mora commented that the private sector will accompany the federal government in the process that begins in a week. “We are working with the SE in the working tables, what was previously known in the negotiation as the Fourth of Together, is no longer the same, it is not a negotiation or renegotiation, but a review of the treaty and for the same purpose there are five working tables that are already operating, they are technical tables in which the SE requests specific support on issues in different sectors.”

He insisted that the zero tariff is considered a fundamental starting point to strengthen North America.

He recognized that the uncertainty generated by war conflicts has boosted investments in Mexico, which offers a favorable environment with a free trade agreement.

Juan José Sierra Álvarez, president of the Employers’ Confederation of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex), commented that in the face of geopolitical conflicts, businessmen, companies and countries need certainty, so this moment is an opportunity to capitalize on it and provide the certainty they require, both in Mexico and in the United States.