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October 30th, 2017
MR. ENRIQUE PEÑA NIETO, PRESIDENT OF MEXICO
CANCHAM CONSIDERS THAT THE BEST FORM OF DEFENSE FOR A POTENTIAL US WITHDRAWAL FROM NAFTA SHOULD BE TO MODERNIZE IT, MAINTAIN ECONOMIC LIBERALIZATION AND DEFEND THE RULE OF LAW.
Mr. President: The Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico, A.C. (CanCham) regards with concern the renegotiation developments of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Concrete concerns arise from US government´s stance which set out various topics that would be detrimental to market access through a sunset clause revision of the agreement, asymmetric rules of origin, seasonal administration of certain agricultural exports, impact of regional investments guarantee through the optionality or flat disappearance of dispute resolution mechanisms and the incorporation of matters alien to the agreement, such as, the trade deficit and the undervaluation of exchange rates. None of these proposals would strengthen the North American region to foster its competitiveness and would be very damaging to the economy of the three countries, especially to crucial value chains constructed over several years.
In the face of the real threat of the US government decision to terminate the agreement, CanCham emphatically maintains that NAFTA should not only remain in full force for Mexico and Canada, as foreseen in the agreement, but also take advantage of the current negotiating process. This would allow both countries to modernize NAFTA in several sectors, like trade facilitation, e-commerce, energy, finance, telecommunications and transportation, SMEs, gender, etc. The Mexican government should announce in light of the referred potential US withdrawal from the agreement, that it is ready to unilaterally and strategically undertake tariff rates reduction consolidated at the WTO. Finally, ratify its commitment on the economic stability of the country and to defend the rule of law in the government daily tasks.
Please accept the assurances of my highest consideration,
Mr. Armando F. Ortega Gómez,
President
c.c.:
Dr. lldefonso Guajardo Villarreal – Ministry of Economy.
Dr. Luis Videgaray – Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Mr. Pierre Alarie- Ambassador of Canada in Mexico.
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