As a delegation of more than 370 Canadian business and organization leaders flew into Mexico this week, Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard moved quickly to dispel speculation about an underlying goal of the mission.
The mission aims to strengthen the bilateral relationship and diversify markets, he insisted, rejecting suggestions that it represented the first step in creating a separate trade deal — minus the United States.
“There are no negotiations for an exclusive Mexico-Canada treaty,” Ebrard said Monday following a meeting with Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc in Mexico City. He reaffirmed Mexico’s confidence in the continuity of the USMCA, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s well-known antipathy for the accord.
Nonetheless, Mexico and Canada will be forging ahead with a new “bilateral action plan,” Ebrard said. This will expand investment and trade while reducing regulatory barriers — but in parallel with USMCA. First agreed last September following a visit by Prime Minister Mark Carney to Mexico, the plan is due to be formally presented in the second half of the year by President Claudia Sheinbaum and Carney. Key topics include cooperation on minerals, port investments, infrastructure, supply chain security and mechanisms to “increase opportunities for young people in both countries.”
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