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OTTAWA – A new senior Mexican official has said Mexico will not sign the new North American Free Trade Agreement unless the United States cuts tariffs on steel and aluminum on their two mainland neighbors .
Juan Carlos Baker, Mexico's Deputy Minister of Commerce, said lawyers and translators were finalizing the text of the US-Mexico-Canada agreement and hoped that the three countries could sign the document. and November 30 next.
But Mexico will sign the deal only if the US removes their tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum, Baker said in Ottawa.
"We think we need to solve this problem before signing," he said.
Echoing what Canadian officials recently said, Baker said Mexico would not accept any US proposal to accept a metal quota system to allow the US to remove tariffs.
"It will not solve the problem. We need to lift these tariffs. That's Goal 1. How did we get here? Said Baker, who was in Ottawa this week for a meeting organized by Canada on the reform of the World Trade Organization.
"This distortion should not exist in North America."
The trilateral trade agreement was reached before the deadline imposed by the US Congress. The goal was to ensure that the agreement was quickly processed and voted on December 1, before the new government of Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took power.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discussed tariffs during a phone call from Lopez Obrador.
In a statement, the Prime Minister's Office said that the USMCA pair "helped remove uncertainty and supported increased investment and exports", as well as tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump in June for security reasons. national.
Canada and Mexico responded to tariffs by imposing their own retaliatory taxes on imports from the United States.
Baker also criticized Canada's 25% surtax on certain foreign steel products – an offer to prevent dumping. It came into effect on October 25 and Baker said the measure unfairly affected Mexican products.
This decision is widely viewed as an attempt to appease the Trump administration by closing Canada as a transit point for cheap steel from China to the US market.
"We understand what Canada intends to do. We are disappointed that we have not been excluded from this measure, "Baker said.
Kelly Craft, US Ambbadador to Canada, said at a business summit held in southwestern Ontario on Oct. 26 that Trump was reviewing its rates.
"It's not something that goes against Canada, it's just something that protects North America from other countries that will move raw materials, but also protect our steel industry here," he said. she said.
David MacNaughton, Canada's ambbadador to the United States, said at the same event at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce that he hoped the US tariffs would be lifted soon, now that the new trade deal is concluded.
"I hope that tariffs on steel and aluminum will soon be removed. During the negotiations, the President, as well as members of Congress, repeatedly pointed out that (tariff) action did not really suggest that Canada posed a threat to national security, but that it was not a threat to Canada. it was necessary to exert a leverage effect. "
Earlier this week, a delegation from Mexico's waiting room was in Ottawa. The future Mexican Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, met with Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Ebrard suggested that tariffs could be lifted once the new North American trade agreement is signed. But Ebrard and Freeland were indifferent as to how quickly this could happen.
Baker does not rule out the possibility that the G20 leaders' summit, set to begin on November 30 in Buenos Aires, will serve as a venue for the signing of the USMCA. All three countries are members of the G20. But he added that no formal meeting was planned to deal specifically with tariffs.
Baker also tackled a controversial section of the USMCA that allows any country to opt out of the deal on six months' notice if one of the partners starts negotiating deals. free trade with a non-market economy – widely regarded as China – its opponent to.
Like Canada, he said that this clause did not prevent Mexico from negotiating with China.
And he confirmed the widely shared opinion about the origin of this unusual provision.
"Neither Mexico nor Canada asked for it."
– Ian Bickis files.
News from © Canadian Press Enterprises Inc. 2016
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