Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that he prefers Mexico to remain a free trade partner in North America, but “we may have to look at other options” if the country does not address concerns about Chinese manufacturers working to enter the market.
Trudeau said he raised “real and genuine concerns about Chinese investments in Mexico” directly with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ summit in Brazil on Monday. These concerns have prompted some Canadian prime ministers to call on Canada to conclude its own bilateral agreement with the United States under incoming president-elect Donald Trump, resulting in Mexico exiting the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
The prime minister said his first priority will be defending Canadian workers and the Canadian economy, and that Ottawa is “leaving all doors open” to secure those interests.
“Ideally, we do this as a single market in North America,” he told reporters at an unrelated news conference in Toronto. “But pending the decisions and choices made by Mexico, perhaps we should look at other options.” He did not say what those options were.
“But let me say that again: My ideal is that we continue to work well together to protect North American jobs from overcapacity or economic duress that other countries have been responsible for.”
Sheinbaum told reporters in Mexico City on Wednesday that Trudeau “disagrees” with calls to take Mexico out of CUSMA, and that during their meeting at the G20 they agreed to maintain a three-way trade deal.
But she also said she told Chinese President Xi Jinping at the summit “that we have a trade agreement with North America, but there is room for a relationship with China, which is very important.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said last week that Mexico is “importing cheap products” from China, then “putting on a made-in-Mexico label and shipping it” to Canada and the United States, bypassing CUSMA rules and Canadian and U.S. import tariffs. Chinese vehicles. Trump has made similar comments about China using Mexico to gain access to the US auto market, threatening the US industry.
Ford called for a bilateral agreement with the United States and a separate agreement with Mexico “if Mexico wants it,” which Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she agreed to “1,000 per cent” in an interview with CBC on Friday.
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Ford claimed on Wednesday, after a phone call with his fellow prime ministers, that they all support his demand to conclude separate bilateral trade agreements with the United States and Mexico.
Trump has pledged to reopen CUSMA to address the issue when the trade deal is under review in 2026. During the election campaign he criticized Chinese automakers building manufacturing plants in Mexico, which is not currently happening, although BYD, the largest automaker Electric in China, has plans for a Mexican facility.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Tuesday she shares “legitimate” concerns about Chinese investments in Mexico, and the fact that Mexico has not yet aligned with Canadian and US tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and materials such as steel and aluminium.
She said concerns had been raised directly to her by both members of the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden and the incoming Trump administration.
“We are not a backdoor for unfairly traded Chinese goods,” Freeland said Tuesday. “However, the same cannot be said about Mexico.”
A report from the United States Trade Representative earlier this year warned that U.S. industry stakeholders “expressed concerns that increased Chinese foreign direct investment in Mexico’s auto sector poses a significant threat to the competitiveness of the North American auto industry” and could allow… China has definitions of skirt.
According to the US industry group Alliance for a Prosperous America, which encourages the US to take a combative trade stance, more than 20 Chinese automakers have invested billions in Mexico.
Biden administration in July The United States has imposed new tariffs on steel and aluminum shipped from Mexico but manufactured elsewhere, a move aimed at addressing China’s tariff evasion.
Mexico’s Deputy Foreign Trade Minister Luis Rosendo Gutierrez said last month that Mexico will continue to prioritize the United States and Canada because of their strategic alliance through CUSMA, but that does not mean Mexico will “separate from China” or “deprive it of investments in Mexico.”
CUSMA’s rules of origin require higher levels of North American parts in vehicles sold in the three countries than NAFTA, which Trump said China is also trying to exploit by bringing Chinese components through Mexico.
Trump, who has pledged to impose a blanket 10% tariff on all foreign imports, said Mexican imports could see 25% tariffs if the country does not stem the flow of migrants arriving at the US border.
During the presidential campaign, Trump said he would impose tariffs of at least 200% or more on all vehicles imported from Mexico — which would hurt U.S. automakers in the short term — and proposed imposing tariffs on Chinese companies that operate in Mexico and bypass rules. CUSMA. Up to 1000 percent.
Mexico pledged to respond by imposing tariffs on US imports if Trump carries out his threat, which the Mexican Economy Minister warned would cause economic harm to North America.
– With files from The Canadian Press and Reuters
&Copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
