Latino

Mexican private sector: End of NAFTA not a ‘catastrophe’

by Rafael Bernal - 08/30/17 3:55 PM ET

The head of Mexico’s chamber of industry said Wednesday that terminating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) would not be a “catastrophe” for the country’s economy.

Manuel Herrera, president of Concamin — a grouping of the country’s major manufacturers — said he was confident re-negotiation of the deal would be successful, according to a report by Reforma newspaper.

“Today we are confident that this negotiation will come to a good end, which the negotiating teams are working for,” said Herrera.

“If that weren’t the case, it’s not the catastrophe it would seem. NAFTA is neither an automatic pass to the development of Mexico, nor a ticket to crisis for our country,” he added.

{mosads}If NAFTA were rescinded, Herrera said 80 percent of Mexico’s exports to the United States would have a maximum tariff of 3 percent, in accordance with World Trade Organization rules.

Herrera’s comments came on the heels of criticism from President Trump of the trade deal over the weekend.

Trump tweeted Sunday that Mexican and Canadian NAFTA negotiators were being “very difficult” and threatened to end the agreement.

Trump doubled down on his threat Wednesday during a tax policy speech in Missouri, saying, “Mexico is not happy.”

After a round of NAFTA negotiations in Washington in August, the next round is due to take place in Mexico City from Sept. 1 to Sept. 5.

Mexico’s secretaries of foreign relations and of the economy, Luis Videgaray and Ildefonso Guajardo, were in Washington Wednesday for talks on NAFTA’s future with top administration officials, including Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and White House adviser Jared Kushner.

Another top Mexican private enterprise leader, Juan Pablo Castañón, head of the Consejo Coordinador Empresarial, Mexico’s largest chamber of commerce, said Mexico has “options” in the face of a potential dissolution of the North American free-trade zone.

“We have to contemplate every scenario. One of the scenarios is that we don’t go on with a free-trade agreement,” he said.

“We have the intention for this to be successful, but if circumstances exist, as they do, the possibility of the treaty being broken, Mexico has options to diversify markets, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world,” added Castañón.

Tags Robert Lighthizer Wilbur Ross