Mexico did not violate USMCA: Tatiana Clouthier

The Secretary of Economy, Tatiana Clouthier, said that the Government of Mexico is not violating the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Canada, given the request of these countries for the review of energy policy.  Tatiana Clouthier indicated that the chapter in question is not being violated, because it continues to respect the sovereignty of Mexico as an independent country, reiterating that there must be autonomy between the countries. “Chapter 8 of the USMCA is not under review, as the President read it is as it is and there are more chapters, there are issues that may or may not be transversal. Mexico’s autonomy of what to do with its Constitution in terms of autonomy is not in question,” the Q4 official said in an interview. He also assured that the chapters of the Trade Agreement can have different interpretations, so it must be treated between those involved in order to reach an agreement. “In my opinion, the USMCA has many chapters that have to be analyzed and seen, and analyze part by part what the United States is asking for or is interpreting that is not being fulfilled as they put it on the part of Mexico,” he said. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) on Thursday asked the Government of Mexico to “take seriously” the energy consultations that the United States and Canada requested on the questioned Mexican energy policy. The ICC, chaired by Mexico’s Maria Fernanda Garza, said the consultations announced Wednesday are “an area of opportunity” to avoid “a major trade dispute” within the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). We hope that the Government of Mexico will take this matter seriously and that there will be political will to resolve these irregularities through dialogue, goodwill and commitment to legality to prevent the economy of our country from being affected,” the chamber said in a statement. The position comes a day after the United States and Canada requested to start consultations within the USMCA on Mexico’s energy policy, which President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has changed to favor public companies Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE). The president minimized this Thursday in his morning conference the consultations considering that it is a normal procedure within the USMCA, in force since July 2020, and denounced that they obey “political” interests. We recommend you read:PRD denounces Morena’s ‘corcholatas’ for CoahuilaExebernators go on to be killed or imprisoned for illicit acts after their mandateBut the ICC argued that “it is not a surprise to anyone” that these consultations occur due to the changes in energy policy “that have affected the trade and investment of those who compete with Pemex and CFE.”

Original source in Spanish