Mexico has 12 free trade agreements; and 44% of exports from Mexico to the US enter without tariff preferences.
In answering questions for his Fifth Report, EPN said that if the US leaves NAFTA, Mexico has “reliable tools” and business will continue under the World Trade Organization.
The eventual end of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Canada (NAFTA) does not jeopardise the $300 billion dollars of annual Mexican exports to the United States, President Enrique Peña Nieto assured the Senate.
“Although there are concerns about the tariff peaks, they only represent 15% of total exports, in addition, 37% of our exports enter the United States free of duty,” he said.
Peña Nieto reiterated that Mexico has 12 free trade agreements with 46 nations; therefore, they “have important and reliable tools to manage a possible exit from the United States of NAFTA.”
He recalled that until December, the three nations have held five rounds of negotiations and concluded two chapters: a completely new one, referring to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and competition, whose provisions were strengthened and modernized to reflect the recent reform to the Federal Law of Economic Competition in our country.
In addition, he said, substantial progress has been made on issues such as anti-corruption, telecommunications, good regulatory practices, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, trade facilitation, electronic commerce, technical barriers to trade and various sectoral annexes.
EPN also talked about diversifying exports. In this framework progress is being made in the modernization of other treaties, such as:
The TLCUEM (with the European Union), where five rounds of negotiations have already been concluded
ACE 53 (Economic Complementation Agreements) with Brazil, where eight rounds have been conducted
ACE 6 with Argentina, so far four rounds have been completed
And the TPP 1, to strengthen trade policy and the strategic importance of diversifying economic relations in the most important markets
Senator Ricardo Urzúa Rivera, member of the support team of the negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), trusts that the sixth and seventh rounds will conclude successfully for Mexico in February or March.
By Elliot Burman for Mexico News Network
Source: Mexico News Network