Dollar Slips Against Mexican, Canadian Currencies

04/16/2018 The Wall Street Journal

The Canadian dollar and Mexican peso rose against the dollar Monday, reflecting fresh optimism on trade negotiations with the U.S.

The dollar was recently down 0.1% against the Mexican peso to 18.03, its lowest level since late September. The U.S. currency was down 0.2% against the Canadian dollar to C$1.2577, hovering near a two-month low.

Some investors have become more optimistic that negotiators are closer to reaching a deal to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement, or Nafta, after reports that the Trump administration is hammering out a compromise on auto-industry rules.

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Mexico slaps tariffs on steel pipes from Korea, Spain, India, Ukraine

via Flickr – Dave Parker

The Mexico economy ministry said on Tuesday it has formally imposed anti-dumping duties on imports of carbon steel pipe from South Korea, Spain, India and the Ukraine after completing an investigation into “unfair” trade practices.

The investigation came at the request of a company and covered an analysis of the period from April 2013 to March 2016, the ministry said in a statement in the government’s official gazette.

Mexico has imposed duties in recent years on steel products from several countries after local steelmakers announced cuts in thousands of jobs in 2015 and canceled investments.

Recently, Mexico’s economy ministry imposed anti-dumping duties in March on imports of carbon steel pipe from China.

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Trump Begins Third Day of Twitter Attacks on ‘Weak’ Border Laws

04/03/2018 The New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Trump kicked off his third consecutive day of tweeting about America’s “weak” border laws on Tuesday and called on Congress to act, following a new push for legislation to enforce immigration laws for those living illegally in the United States.

Mr. Trump’s Twitter thread on immigration policy started Sunday and, since then, he has consistently threatened to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, known as Nafta. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump said Nafta “is in play,” and repeated his contention that Nafta was a “cash cow” for other nations.

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Mexican Government Raises $1.6 Billion in Shares of New Airport Trust

03/26/2018 The Wall Street Journal

The Mexican government’s airport company raised around $1.6 billion to partly finance the construction of the new Mexico City airport, a megaproject that the country’s leading presidential candidate threatens to cancel if he wins the July election.

Grupo Aeroportuario de la Ciudad de Mexico, which runs Mexico City’s existing airport and holds the license to develop and operate the new airport, sold shares for 30 billion Mexican pesos in a type of trust known locally as a Fibra E. With the proceeds from the trust, $6 billion in bonds, a revolving credit line and budget funds, financing so far is approaching $10 billion.

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Trump’s Long-awaited Steel and Aluminum Tariffs Are Just the Beginning

03/26/2018 PIIE

via Flickr – Dave Parker

President Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs finally arrived at 12:01 am on Friday morning, March 23. US Customs and Border Protection started collecting duties from countries that exported $18 billion of the affected metal products to the United States in 2017.

Yet, the saga is still only at an early phase. Trump’s tariffs are now not only likely to inflict costs on the American economy, they have also resulted in new rounds of uncertainty. His meandering approach to trade policy seems intent on creating a crisis. Countries are now being forced to act—and react—outside of the normal channels of the rules-based trading system. There is great potential for responses to escalate quickly and damage everyone, including the United States.

Here are five things you need to know.

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Mexican Peso, Loonie Rally on Auto Olive Branch in Nafta Talks

03/21/2018 Bloomberg

The Mexican peso and Canadian dollar rallied Wednesday after the U.S. reportedly compromised on one of the most contentious issues in North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations.

The Trump administration dropped a demand that all vehicles made in Canada and Mexico for export to the U.S. contain at least 50 percent U.S. content, the Globe and Mail reported, citing people with knowledge of the talks. The peso led gains among the world’s major currencies, while the loonie was the leader among G-10 currencies against the dollar.

Word that the U.S. is backing away from one of the key Nafta sticking points may be the clearest sign yet that the U.S. is easing its initial hard-line stance. That bodes well for the talks, said Credit Agricole foreign-exchange strategist Vassili Serebriakov.

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Uber Rival Hiring in Mexico as Didi Seeks Latin American Ramp Up

03/22/2018 Bloomberg

Brazil’s ride-hailing app 99 is gearing up to start operations in Mexico, expanding outside of its home market for the first time.

“We’ve started to look at Mexico, study it, but we’re not operational yet,” 99’s head of legal, policy and communication Matheus Moraes said in an interview at the company’s Sao Paulo headquarters. “We have people and spots open there, we’re just making sure the product works well before launching.”

The company could be up and running in Mexico by June, Moraes said.

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