Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador yesterday about the importance of Canadian investments to the Mexican economy.
Both leaders discussed the mutually important bilateral economic relationship between their two countries, anchored in the Treaty between the United States, Mexico and Canada (USMCA), Trudeau’s office said in a statement.
“They discussed the important contributions that Canadian investors are making to the Mexican economy, including in the energy sector. They agreed to continue working together to combat climate change.”
The topic came up in a conversation in which Canada’s head of state invited López Obrador to join a day of support for refugees from Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine on April 9.
Canadian investment in energy in Mexico is approximately $10,400 million, of which approximately 4,000 corresponds to renewables.
The Canadian Prime Minister’s emphasis on the importance of his country’s energy investments comes a few days after discussing the Mexican government’s electricity reform initiative, which proposes excluding private investment from energy sales and limiting individuals’ participation in electricity generation , to the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).
The project is also considering changing the order of shipment of electrical energy, to give priority to the fluid produced by the CFE, regardless of cost, which would mean sending solar or wind generators to the last places of shipment.
US tightens the wedge
Yesterday also became known the letter that Katherine Tai, head of the White House Trade Representation (USTR, for its acronym in English) sent to Tatiana Clouthier, Mexico’s economy minister, in which she made it clear that the changes in energy policy in the country (including the Electricity Reform Initiative and the Electricity Act Reform of 2021) puts $10 billion of U.S. investment in the sector at risk.
“Unfortunately, while we have tried to be constructive with the government of Mexico in addressing these concerns, there have been no changes in Mexico’s (energy) policies,” the trade representative said in the letter sent Thursday.
And he warned that his country is considering using the T-MEC tools in case they feel their rights have been violated: “I will consider all available options under the T-MEC to address these concerns. Therefore, I urge your government to stop these troubling actions and ensure that the rights of U.S. investors and exporters are protected.”
import permits
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has reiterated in his latest morning conferences that he has no intention of making any changes to the electricity reform initiative and last week, after meeting with US climate envoy John Kerry, he stated only that he would respect the fuel import licenses of several US companies that have faced barriers to importing the product into national territory.
empresas@eleconomista.mx
