Mexico's Economy Minister "Trump Threats Tariffs, Optimism for Solution"

Despite Trump's threat to impose heavy tariffs on Mexico, he said he was confident that negotiations between the two countries could lead to a solution.

"Mexico has an advantageous structural advantage in discussing tariffs with the United States," Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said at an economic outlook seminar.

Economic Secretary Ebrard, who was Mexico's foreign minister in the mid-to-late Trump first term, said the Trump administration in 2019 brought up a policy of imposing tariffs as a negotiating weapon to demand curbs on migrant flows.

Mexico said at the time that it had rejected the measure externally, but it accepted immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela expelled from the United States or implemented a strong crackdown policy at Mexico's southern border.

Mexico's economy minister warned that Trump's threat of tariffs could have a boomerang-like adverse effect on the U.S. economy in both countries, given the closer bilateral trade status since the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which took effect in 2020.

Mexico exported $490.1 billion (W685 trillion) worth of goods to the United States in 2023 and imported $255.4 billion (W357 trillion) worth of goods, making it America's largest trading partner."The most important starting point is that the USMCA signed during the first Trump administration has achieved great results," Minister
Ebrard said. "The United States is a powerhouse, but it is not an economic weakness that could lead to Mexico being vulnerable in the consultation process compared to the past."

The Mexican government believes it is indispensable to maintain the current status quo, especially as U.S. companies such as General Motors (GM) and Ford, which have production plants in the country, have increased their competitiveness through the USMCA, and face greater cost pressures in competition with Chinese brands.