Sheinbaum says trade triangulation is small, cites data
Asked about Chinese textiles reaching Mexico through Vietnam, the president said the Economy Ministry will present figures. She gave none.
Talk of Chinese goods being routed through third countries is overblown, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday. Asked at her morning press conference whether she will raise textile "triangulation" through Vietnam on her trip to China, she answered: "Se dice mucho de ese tema, pero no es tanto" ("There is a lot of talk about that, but it's not that much"), according to the official transcript.
A reporter had pointed to the dumping investigation into Vietnamese textiles. Sheinbaum described triangulation as goods from other countries that enter Mexico, use its free trade terms with the United States and reach the U.S. with no Mexican value added. That, she said, is "very little." The usual pattern is imports, value added in Mexico, then exports.
Her government has worked with Concamin, the confederation of industrial chambers, for about four months. "We have the data," she said, and the Economy Ministry will present it "in due course." She gave no figures on volume, value or tariffs. Neither Concamin nor the textile industry has given its side.
She also said a plan to improve IMMEX, the program that lets companies import inputs duty-free to export manufactured goods, is nearly ready, along with other export schemes. No date, no details: "Some day we'll present it."
On Vietnam, she said the country wants more trade with Mexico and that the two have no free trade agreement. The subject will be part of the talks. At the Asia-Pacific forum, she added, trade will not be the central issue: a delegation led by Secretary Marcelo Ebrard stays behind to handle it.
Sheinbaum leaves for China in the early hours of Sunday and returns in the early hours of Nov. 20.
