Mexico’s agrifood exports highest in 29 years between January and May

07/20/2021

Source: Mexico News Daily

The value of Mexico’s agrifood exports in the first five months of the year was the highest in 29 years, the Agriculture Ministry said. Agrifood products destined for foreign shores brought in US $18.7 billion from January through May, and imports were just under $14.5 billion for a surplus of $4.23 billion, the fourth highest in 27 years.

Of the $33.2 billion agrifood trade with foreign countries, 56.4% was money entering the economy: more than earnings from petroleum exports or foreign tourism.

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U.S., Canada, Mexico hold ‘robust’ trade deal talks, downplay differences

05/19/2021

Source: Reuters

Trade ministers from the United States, Canada and Mexico said on Tuesday they held “robust” talks on the new North American trade deal and pledged to fully enforce its higher standards, while downplaying differences over a range of other irritants.

The ministers, in a joint statement issued after their first meeting to review the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade that took effect in July 2020, also vowed to focus on fighting climate change and crack down on imports of goods to the region made with forced labor.

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U.S., Mexico, Canada held ‘robust’ trade talks; vow focus on climate, small businesses

05/18/2021

Source: Reuters

Trade ministers from the United States, Canada and Mexico on Tuesday said they held “robust” talks on the new North American trade deal and agreed to focus on fighting climate change and ensuring the voices of underrepresented groups are heard.

The ministers, in a joint statement issued after the first minister-level meeting on the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement that went into effect on July 1, 2020, also vowed to crack down on imports of goods made using forced labor.

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Goldman Traders Caught in Mexico Stalemate Chasing $400 Million From Texas Freeze

05/17/2021

Source: Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — It’s a Wall Street nightmare. You score hundreds of millions of dollars on a trade and you just can’t get paid.

That’s what Goldman Sachs Group Inc. faces in a transaction pitting its traders against Mexico’s dominant power company, championed by none other than President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, according to people with knowledge of the matter. At issue: roughly $400 million the Wall Street bank believes it’s owed from a natural-gas trade that went wild when a deep freeze hit Texas in February.

In private discussions with Goldman Sachs, state-owned utility Comision Federal de Electricidad has blamed rogue traders, ejected staff and even hinted that the side lacking financial sophistication in the trade was, perhaps, the Wall Street bank, the people said.

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Mexico leader decries beer, milk production in arid areas

03/28/2021

Source: AP News

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is railing against the production of beer and milk in areas where there isn’t enough water.

López Obrador cancelled plans for a huge brewery on Mexico’s northern border last year, and on Sunday he questioned the whole idea of producing beer for export.

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Revealed: Monsanto owner and US officials pressured Mexico to drop glyphosate ban

02/16/2021

Source: The Guardian

Internal government emails reveal Monsanto owner Bayer AG and industry lobbyist CropLife America have been working closely with US officials to pressure Mexico into abandoning its intended ban on glyphosate, a pesticide linked to cancer that is the key ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkillers.

The moves to protect glyphosate shipments to Mexico have played out over the last 18 months, a period in which Bayer was negotiating an $11bn settlement of legal claims brought by people in the US who say they developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma due to exposure to the company’s glyphosate-based products.

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Mexico braces for close trade scrutiny from Biden

11/29/2020

Source: Yahoo! News

After years of fiery rhetoric from outgoing President Donald Trump, Mexico is bracing for more discreet but steadfast pressure from Joe Biden’s administration to fulfill its trade obligations to the letter, analysts say.

Mexico and Canada were pressured by Trump to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the 1994 pact that the Republican branded “the worst trade deal in the history of the country.”

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Pelosi pushes to keep tech’s legal shield out of trade agreement with Mexico and Canada

12/05/19 – CNBC

By Lauren Feiner

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is pushing to keep a key legal shield for tech companies out of a new trade agreement with Mexico and Canada. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news on Thursday.

The effort could throw a wrench into progress Congress seemed to be making on the pact and would be a blow to tech companies who already fear losing the legal protection within the U.S. Just last week, Pelosi said House Democrats were “within range” of reaching a pact they can support for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, which would replace NAFTA.

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Mexico resists U.S. demands on trade deal, wants Senate to back tweaks

12/03/19 – Reuters

By Dave Graham

Mexico’s president on Tuesday pushed back against U.S. efforts to subject his country’s labor market to external oversight under a new North American trade deal, and said the Mexican Senate should be consulted before new changes are signed off.

Mexico approved the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) earlier this year, but U.S. ratification has been held up by Democratic lawmakers seeking to have stricter enforcement of new Mexican labor rules enshrined in the deal.

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Arizona-Mexico trade relationship continues to boost border economies

12/02/19 – Chamber Business News

By Graham Bosch

Mexico is Arizona’s top trading partner, accounting for about 30 percent of the state’s exports to foreign markets, according to an extensive ongoing study by the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona.

With that in mind, it’s no wonder that business leaders, trade experts and economists agree the cross-border relationship is of the utmost importance to Arizona when it comes to trade, manufacturing, education, safety, tourism and more.

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