Mexico City.- PRI deputy and former T-MEC negotiator, Ildefonso Guajardo, assured that Mexico is protected from Donald Trump’s threats, if the rules of the North American trade agreement are correctly complied with.
The presidential candidate said Thursday at the Republican Convention in Milwaukee that he would not allow the eventual installation of “massive automobile plants” in Mexico, referring to investments from China.
“When he says, ‘we are not going to accept that Mexico sends Chinese cars,’ well no, because if they do not comply with the rules, under the conditions of the treaty, then they will not send them,” said Guajardo, former Secretary of Economy.
He explained that at the end of the last six-year term and at the beginning of the current one, Mexico negotiated the T-MEC in a way that was strong enough to protect the growth volumes of our country’s industry, without exceeding limits that could generate tariffs.
There is no problem for anyone who complies with the USMCA content rules, such as 70 percent of steel melted in North America, and 75 percent of auto parts content from the region, mainly made in the region, he said.
“It doesn’t matter where the industry or the money comes from, I mean, if it complies, it’s already a car made in North America, but in its structure, the Chinese will never be interested in complying with all those rules,” said the PRI legislator.
He said that what China is doing is coming to Mexico to take over the Mexican and Latin American markets, not to encompass the North American one.
“So, what should we take care of? We must be very vigilant, and we must comply with our obligations under the Treaty, as it is, in terms of competition with production, with those who are establishing national production,” explained Guajardo.
He said it would be inappropriate for Chinese companies to come here, not wanting to comply with Mexico’s treaties and seeking to export cars from here, paying a 2.5 percent tariff.
“This is clearly a way to get around the tariffs that the United States imposed on Chinese cars during the Joe Biden administration,” he said.
He added that Mexico has a tariff exception for electric cars to encourage electromobility.
However, he said, an undue preference has been created in the market, which should be ended.
“That’s why we have been inundated with Chinese cars in such a short period of time, because there is zero tariff on imports of electric cars from China,” he added.
He suggested that while Trump is campaigning, there is no need to respond to his statements, which are no longer surprising.
He recalled that the issue of automobile production is important to the Republican, because the sedans sold to the United States pay only 2.5 percent in tariffs, but American cars pay 10 percent to enter Europe.
“So, one of Trump’s reactions is to say, right off the bat, ‘I’m going to increase tariffs on cars.’ And that, yes, is obviously a distortion of international trade, but they can only be increased for those who do not have trade agreements,” he explained.
He said that we should wait until the tycoon eventually wins the Presidency of the United States and, based on that, consider a strategy to address the issue of Chinese cars.
“One thing we must have learned by now, right? Trump cannot be answered in campaigns. In a campaign, absolutely nothing is gained by getting involved in the internal debate of the United States,” he added.
Meanwhile, PAN deputy Mariana Gómez del Campo, secretary of the Foreign Relations Committee, said that the Republican is once again sending messages to try to subdue Mexico.
“As always, Donald Trump dictates to the Mexican president, and the Mexican president never tires of believing that he is his friend, and today he even says ‘my friend Trump’, when his ‘friend’ Trump has done what he wants with Mexico,” he said.
He said Trump’s message about Chinese cars is another sign that he is telling Mexico what he wants to do.
He said that the American candidate managed to impose in Mexico the “human wall” of the National Guard to stop migrants who want to cross into the United States, causing them to stay in our country.
“So yes, I am very curious that López Obrador continues to believe that they are friends, when he has done what he wants with him and with our country.
“The issue of Chinese cars is purely political. He doesn’t want to have the Chinese around, he knows that Mexico, this government is very close to China, so he is measuring it. These statements are more like those of a head of state, of someone who already sees himself in the chair, that is, Donald Trump is still a candidate and he is already putting his foot on Mexico’s neck, regarding what it should do and what it should not do,” he said.
She said that Claudia Sheinbaum will have to discuss the issue with Trump if he wins the presidency of the United States.
“Mexico will have to make a decision, but it would be very important for a candidate to dictate the line of what the government should do,” he said.
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