Canada Could Seek Trade Options If Mexico Fails to Address China Investment, Justin Trudeau Says.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country might have to pursue other options in its trading relationship with Mexico unless the government there can allay concerns about Chinese investment.
Trudeau said on Thursday, November 21, it is his preference that Mexico remains part of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade treaty, or USMCA when the deal is up for a statutory review by U.S. lawmakers in 2026. President-elect Donald Trump said during the recent election campaign he wants to seek changes to the pact, which was renegotiated during his first term.
“There have been real and genuine concerns raised about Chinese investment into Mexico that I brought up directly with the Mexican president … that I know the three countries are going to have to lean in and work on,” Trudeau said at a press conference in suburban Toronto.
“Ideally, we do that as a united North American market, but pending decisions and choices that Mexico has made, we may have to look at other options.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum attributed the calls for Mexico to be excluded from the pact to campaign rhetoric ahead of Canadian elections. “The prime minister [Trudeau] doesn’t agree with removing Mexico from the treaty, he told me quite clearly, and we agreed to continue talking,” Sheinbaum said at her daily press conference.
Both Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland have raised worries that China is using its investments in Mexico to circumvent U.S. tariffs. Freeland said this week she shared the “grave concerns” harbored by the Biden administration and advisers to Trump about Chinese investment in Mexico.
The premier of Ontario, Canada’s largest province and home to Canada’s auto industry said on Wednesday that he had spoken with the other provincial leaders and they agreed that Canada should cut a deal with the U.S. that doesn’t include Mexico.
“We need a bilateral trade deal with the U.S., and a separate bilateral trade deal with Mexico,” said Doug Ford, Ontario’s premier. “We know Mexico is bringing cheap Chinese parts, slapping ‘made in Mexico’ stickers on, shipping it up through the U.S. and Canada, causing U.S. jobs to be lost, Canadian jobs to be lost.”
San Miguel Times
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