Mexico to Protect Trade Agreement With US and Canada

• Mexico is taking all possible measures to preserve its regional trade agreement with the United States and Canada, the country’s deputy economy minister said in an interview published Friday.
• The three neighboring nations, and major partners in commerce, have entered a trade tussle after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to slap tariffs on the countries to the north and the south if they did not clamp down on drugs and migrants coming into the U.S.
• Since Trump's tariff threat, Mexico has launched an offense on contraband goods from Asia coming into the country, and officials seized a record amount of fentanyl. They have also detained thousands of migrants, vowing to prevent them from making it north. 
• Mexico is looking to take a cue from the U.S.; however, in screening investments coming into the country, Gutierrez said. Mexico is looking to develop a process similar to the U.S.' Committee on Foreign Investment, he explained. When asked if that would affect Chinese automaker BYD's plans to build a factory in the Latin American country, Gutierrez responded that Mexico wants "to play with the same rules" as its trade allies.
• Trump had also threatened to put a 100% tariff "on every single car coming across the Mexican border" in response to BYD's plans, though the carmaker has repeatedly said its plant would serve the local market and not the United States.
• Mexico is considering doling out incentives to draw manufacturing investments, Gutierrez said, suggesting Mexico could produce batteries that the U.S. wants to be made regionally.

(Source: Reuters)