Mexico needs to stop dependence on its trade with the United States for its economy and instead look at expanding and strengthening and diversifying its ties trade relations with countries and economies of Central and South America, said an official associated with the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
The focus of Mexico to tray and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), is being done at a potential loss to trade relationships within the regional territory of Mexico itself, said ECLAC's executive secretary, Alicia Barcena, while speaking at a business forum in Mexico City on Monday.
Barcena also cited an example to illustrate the point. Mexico imports about 70 per cent of its total imports of agricultural products from the U.S. while the country can easily get that imported from Brazil, Argentina and Chile so that the country would be able to reduce its dependence on the U.S.
"Mexico is still focusing solely on the negotiation of NAFTA. I understand it, but ... there are other opportunities ... towards Central America, towards South America," said Barcena at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
It has been since August that the NAFTA treaty is being renegotiated between Canada, the United States and Mexico. This is being done at the behest of the U.S. President Donald Trump who had been alleging since his presidential campaign about how unfavorably tilted the treaty was for the U.S. and its domestic industry.
However, production systems that were linked to each other and benefits of mutual investment were being derived as advantages of the three members of the NAFTA, Barcena said.
"I feel it is important for Mexico to look for other trade partners as depending only on the United States makes it vulnerable," she explained.
There is also huge opportunity for Mexico to engage in trade with countries in Latin America and some of the other markets for export and sale of white goods, in addition to agricultural products. This, according to her, is now possible because President Trump has imposed high tariffs on the import of washing machines into the U.S. since January.
There can also be new trade opportunities for Mexico in the area of digital products as the country has already made significant improvement in the digital arena which includes both hardware and software, Barcena said.
"I think we have to change the mentality of how to build a policy of industrialization ... but also of regional integration ... and of more modern value chains," concluded Barcena
(Source:www.xinhuanet.com)
The focus of Mexico to tray and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), is being done at a potential loss to trade relationships within the regional territory of Mexico itself, said ECLAC's executive secretary, Alicia Barcena, while speaking at a business forum in Mexico City on Monday.
Barcena also cited an example to illustrate the point. Mexico imports about 70 per cent of its total imports of agricultural products from the U.S. while the country can easily get that imported from Brazil, Argentina and Chile so that the country would be able to reduce its dependence on the U.S.
"Mexico is still focusing solely on the negotiation of NAFTA. I understand it, but ... there are other opportunities ... towards Central America, towards South America," said Barcena at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
It has been since August that the NAFTA treaty is being renegotiated between Canada, the United States and Mexico. This is being done at the behest of the U.S. President Donald Trump who had been alleging since his presidential campaign about how unfavorably tilted the treaty was for the U.S. and its domestic industry.
However, production systems that were linked to each other and benefits of mutual investment were being derived as advantages of the three members of the NAFTA, Barcena said.
"I feel it is important for Mexico to look for other trade partners as depending only on the United States makes it vulnerable," she explained.
There is also huge opportunity for Mexico to engage in trade with countries in Latin America and some of the other markets for export and sale of white goods, in addition to agricultural products. This, according to her, is now possible because President Trump has imposed high tariffs on the import of washing machines into the U.S. since January.
There can also be new trade opportunities for Mexico in the area of digital products as the country has already made significant improvement in the digital arena which includes both hardware and software, Barcena said.
"I think we have to change the mentality of how to build a policy of industrialization ... but also of regional integration ... and of more modern value chains," concluded Barcena
(Source:www.xinhuanet.com)
