La Jornada: Mexico is calm because there is progress: Sheinbaum

Even if the United States government announced, in the virtual meeting that the T-MEC negotiators will hold today, that it will not renew its participation “for 16 years, the treaty says that it is 10 more years” of validity, said President Claudia Sheinbaum. Despite this scenario, he expressed his optimism: “If there were a major change, it would have to go through the congresses of the three countries, which we do not see as very likely.”

In a conference, he said that Mexico is calm because “many” meetings have been held and it has been managed intensely, especially with the United States. He considered that there has been a lot of progress, but it is necessary to wait for the formal meeting between the negotiators of each country to formalize the situation. He admitted that until now, the US position has prioritized dialogue with our country rather than with Canada.

When asked if a telephone conversation between the US President, Donald Trump, and the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, is scheduled today, the president responded no, “because we have spoken. Sometimes communication is made and we consider that it is not necessary to communicate the calls we have. But there is a good relationship with President Trump and a lot of communication between the Ministry of the Economy and his counterpart.”

Sheinbaum insisted that it is in the interests of the three countries to maintain the treaty, but acknowledged that since Trump’s arrival a more protectionist vision has been imposed. “We all know that President Trump’s position is to raise tariffs on everyone; it’s not a secret, it’s essentially what we’ve been experiencing since Trump came in.”

Regarding annual reviews, he explained that there are several options, according to the same treaty, and one of them is to extend it for 16 years. He asserted that the latter is the position of Mexico, which has already signed, as well as Canada, so the response from the United States is now awaited. “If they do not decide to extend it for 16 years, a review process comes, which is not that it will always be reviewed every year, but rather a formal review process begins,” he added.

Regarding the versions that the United States actually intends to negotiate after its November elections, he pointed out that there is a lot of progress and conversations, but no one is putting other issues that have nothing to do with trade on the table, but exclusively the position of the United States government regarding trade.