Mexico warns about Trump’s tariff impact on US companies
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Workers pass by the flags of Canada, Mexico and US flying at an assembly factory in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MEXICO CITY - Mexico’s top economy officials on Nov 19 downplayed concerns about trade talks with Donald Trump’s administration, saying the potential impact on American companies could give the incoming US president second thoughts about levying massive tariffs.
Trump campaigned on a pledge to roll out a slew of tariffs, including for firms that had moved operations to Mexico, in a bid to restore jobs in the United States.
Economists have warned that such tariffs would amount to a serious blow to Mexico’s export-dependent economy, and have warned of a lesser hit to the US economy.
“Mexico’s negotiation power is relevant,” Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said at a press conference on Nov 19, pointing to the number of multinational firms that have set up shop in his country.
“Any action that you take to put at risk (the US-Mexico trade relationship) means thousands of companies” will be impacted, Mr Ebrard said. “There’s hardly an important US company that doesn’t have money here.”
He suggested last week that Mexico could roll out retaliatory measures of its own.
He said on Nov 19 that his team has been preparing to meet Trump officials ahead of Trump’s January inauguration.
A review of the trade agreement between the two countries and Canada is also set for 2026. Trump led an overhaul of the agreement in his first term.
Mr Ebrard and other officials also downplayed US concerns that China was using Mexico as a back door to avoid trade barriers.
Mr Ebrard claimed that just 0.4 per cent of Chinese investment coming into North America goes to Mexico, with over two-thirds going to the US.
Mexico’s ability to bring in record amounts of foreign direct investment in recent years – part of a trend known as nearshoring, in which multinationals move operations closer to their final destination – is a top strength, the officials said.
Deputy Economy Minister Luis Rosendo Gutierrez said the vast majority of investors he recently met with in New York still wanted to invest in Mexico, even with concerns over recent constitutional reforms.
Mr Ebrard also said that top carmakers such as Ford had no plans to move production from Mexico.
Trump had floated both a 200 per cent tariff on all autos imported from Mexico and a 200 per cent tariff on China-related carmakers that move production to Mexico.
As for billionaire Elon Musk’s Tesla, Mr Ebrard said, Mexico is still waiting to hear back on whether it will proceed with a previously announced multi-billion-dollar mega-factory in northern Mexico.
Trump has tapped Mr Musk, who was a major supporter of his presidential campaign, as the co-head of a new department aimed at improving government efficiency.
