Sheinbaum: Meeting Xi should not affect USMCA talks
The president said Mexico is not seeking a free trade deal with China and that Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard will stay behind to handle bilateral trade.
President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that her meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping "should not be a problem" for Mexico's trade negotiations with the United States. She was answering a question at her morning press conference about whether the trip could be used to undermine the deal.
Mexico has a free trade agreement with the United States and Canada, she noted. It has none with China and is not heading toward one, though the two countries have an important trade relationship. "Mexico is a friend of all the countries in the world," she said. Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard will stay in China to handle commercial matters.
The trip has three parts: the bilateral meeting with Xi, Ebrard's talks with Chinese officials and the leaders' summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) in Shenzhen on Nov. 18 and 19. The presidency's statement puts her schedule in China from Nov. 17 to 19.
"Everything seems to indicate" that U.S. President Donald Trump will attend APEC too, Sheinbaum said. That is her expectation, not a confirmed attendance. The forum brings together leaders from the United States, Mexico, China and Russia.
Several cabinet secretaries will join the meeting with Xi. Four topics are on the agenda with China:
- smart hospitals;
- the environment and the circular economy;
- scientific and technological development;
- renewable energy, including solar panels made in China.
The USMCA, the trade pact among the three North American countries that Mexico calls the T-MEC, is under review, and the question rested on the possibility that Washington could see closer ties with China as an obstacle. After meeting Xi at the G20 in November 2024, Sheinbaum had said her government gives priority to partners with which Mexico has signed a free trade deal.
As framed from the National Palace, Mexico will cooperate with China on specific issues, the Economy Ministry will handle trade and no treaty is on the table. No date or time has been set for the meeting with Xi. Sheinbaum leaves early Sunday, Nov. 15, and is due back Nov. 20 in time for the parade.
