Mexico Won’t Negotiate New Tariffs in NAFTA

Taylor Hillman Industry News Release, Trade

changesMexico issued a warning to the United States over the weekend, saying if any North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiations include new tariffs, the nation’s trade leaders would “get up from the table.”

Mexico’s Economy Minister said the country “refuses to even discuss the kind of tariffs President Donald Trump” has suggested, according to Bloomberg. Trump wants to build a border wall and impose a 20 percent tax on imports from Mexico, along with another possible tax on automobiles. Without NAFTA, the U.S. and Mexico would be subject to stricter tariff limits by the World Trade Organization, if both countries choose to be WTO compliant. The U.S. is the biggest trading partner for Mexico, but the nation has trade deals with 40 other countries and is accelerating trade talks with Brazil and Argentina, two possible sources to replace corn purchases from the United States. Trade officials from Mexico have said they expect NAFTA talks to start in June.

From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.