US says Mexico should deal with ‘critical’ vitality coverage considerations

The USA has as soon as once more pressured Mexico to deal with considerations over the vitality insurance policies carried out by the present Mexican authorities.

In a gathering in Mexico Metropolis with Deputy Financial system Minister for Overseas Commerce Alejandro Encinas Nájera on Wednesday, the Deputy United States Commerce Consultant Jayme White “underscored the urgent want for Mexico to deal with the intense considerations that america has raised through the ongoing consultations beneath the USMCA relating to Mexico’s vitality measures,” in response to a press release issued by the Workplace of america Commerce Consultant (USTR).

Jayme White and Alejandro Encinas Nájera
Deputy U.S. Commerce Consultant Jayme White with Deputy Financial system Minister for Overseas Commerce Alejandro Encinas Nájera. (Secretaría de Economía/X)

In July 2022, U.S. Commerce Consultant Katherine Tai requested dispute settlement consultations with Mexico beneath the United States-Mexico-Canada Settlement, or USMCA, relating to insurance policies that favor the Federal Electrical energy Fee and state oil firm Pemex over U.S. vitality corporations that function in Mexico.

“We’ve repeatedly expressed critical considerations a few collection of modifications in Mexico’s vitality insurance policies and their consistency with Mexico’s commitments beneath the USMCA,” Tai stated on the time.

“These coverage modifications influence U.S. financial pursuits in a number of sectors and disincentivize funding by clean-energy suppliers and by corporations that search to buy clear, dependable vitality.”

The dispute settlement consultations are ongoing 14 months later although america has been pushing for immediate decision nearly because the starting. The U.S. to date has determined in opposition to requesting the institution of dispute settlement panel to cope with the matter, although it might have performed so 75 days after it first requested for consultations.

Katherine Tai and Raquel Buenrostro
U.S. Commerce Consultant Katherine Tai with Mexico’s Financial system Minister Raquel Buenrostro earlier this 12 months. Tai has repeatedly emphasised U.S. considerations about Mexican vitality coverage in relation to the USMCA commerce pact. (Katherine Tai/X)

President López Obrador, a fierce critic of the 2014 reform that opened up Mexico’s vitality sector to international and personal corporations, stays reluctant to alter the federal government’s nationalistic insurance policies.

Ambassador White raised different considerations throughout his assembly with Encinas, whose father is Deputy Inside Minister for Human Rights Alejandro Encinas Rodríguez.

White “reiterated considerations in regards to the latest surge in U.S. imports of sure metal and aluminum merchandise from Mexico and the dearth of transparency relating to Mexico’s metal and aluminum imports from third nations,” the USTR assertion stated.

He “inspired Mexico to boost its monitoring of Mexican metal and aluminum exports to america in accordance with the 2019 Joint Assertion by america and Mexico on Part 232 Duties on Metal and Aluminum,” the assertion added.

Mexico has requested a USMCA evaluation of antidumping quotas on metal, whereas the U.S. has expressed concern a few “surge” in Mexican metal imports to america. (Shutterstock)

The USTR additionally stated that White and Encinas “mentioned the significance of constructing progress within the ongoing USMCA consultations relating to Mexico’s enforcement of its fisheries-related environmental legal guidelines.”

These consultations are associated to Mexico’s obligation to guard the critically endangered vaquita marina porpoise.

Amongst different issues mentioned by White and Encinas have been “the regulatory setting for medical machine manufacturing” – a rising sector in Mexico – the “significance of competitors within the telecommunications sector” and “conducting procurements in accordance with USMCA obligations in an open and clear method.”

The USTR readout of the assembly didn’t point out the dispute between Mexico and america over the previous’s genetically modified corn insurance policies. The U.S. authorities final month requested the institution of a dispute settlement panel to resolve that difficulty.

The assembly between White and Encinas got here forward of the second USMCA Small and Medium Enterprise Dialogue, which was held in Mexico Metropolis on Thursday.

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