Mexico seeks US dialogue, trade alternatives
MEXICO CITY: Mexico vowed ‘no confrontation and no submission’ in renegotiating relations with the United States under its President Donald Trump but admitted it planned to seek alternative trade partners.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said he was willing to discuss trade, illegal migration and other aspects of bilateral ties with Trump but insisted he would defend Mexico’s national interests.
“Neither confrontation nor submission: the solution is dialogue and negotiation,” Pena Nieto said in a speech outlining his strategy for relations with Trump.
The new US president has threatened to scrap international trade accords to protect US jobs.
On Monday, he signed a memo on withdrawing from the TransPacific Partnership, a major trade pact championed by his predecessor Barack Obama.
The TPP included Mexico, the United States and 10 other countries spanning the Pacific.
In one of the first reactions to Trump’s move, Pena Nieto said he would ‘immediately’ seek to negotiate new bilateral deals with other TPP member countries to “diversify” Mexico’s trade relations.
Mexico is expected to be among the countries most affected by Trump’s trade policies. It relies on the United States to buy most of its exports.
Trump also pledged on Sunday to begin renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada.
He said in an address to White House staff that “we’re going to start some negotiations having to do with NAFTA” in upcoming meetings with Pena Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Pena Nieto’s office said earlier that he spoke with Trudeau by phone on Sunday to coordinate efforts to protect an economically integrated North America.
Trump is scheduled to receive Pena Nieto on January 31.
Trump praised the Mexican leader, saying: “The president has been really very amazing and I think we are going to have a very good result for Mexico, for the United States, for everybody involved. It’s very important.”
Pena Nieto on Monday also challenged Trump’s vow to build a border wall to stop migrants from entering the United States illegally via Mexico – one of the most sensitive themes in Trump’s election campaign.
“Even though Mexico recognises the right of any sovereign country to guarantee its own security, Mexico does not believe in walls,” Pena Nieto said.
“Our country believes in bridges... to promote good neighbor ly relations .”