The Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, proposed the expulsion of Mexico from the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). However, the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, assured that this proposal has no future. Sheinbaum recalled that during the USMCA negotiations, Mexico advocated for the inclusion of Canada, resisting signing only a bilateral agreement with the United States.
Doug Ford accused Mexico of being "the back door" for Chinese products, justifying his request to remove the country from the USMCA ahead of the scheduled review in 2026 with elected President Donald Trump. Ford argued that Mexico must match the tariffs imposed by the United States and Canada on Chinese imports to maintain its place in the agreement.
In response to these statements, Sheinbaum affirmed that Mexicans should not worry, ensuring that her government will focus on demonstrating the benefits of the USMCA and the importance of the contribution of Mexican migrants to the U.S. economy, which amounts to $338 billion a year according to official estimates.
President Sheinbaum highlighted that Canada benefits from the trade agreement with Mexico through programs like the Temporary Agricultural Workers Program (PTAT), which allows Mexican laborers to participate in harvesting in Canadian territory. For her part, she backed the words of Marcelo Ebrard, Secretary of Economy, who emphasized that an exclusive USMCA with the United States is not convenient for Canada, as the U.S. economy is significantly larger.
In this regard, Sheinbaum reiterated the importance of maintaining the trilateral relationship between Mexico, the United States, and Canada within the framework of the USMCA, considering that failing to maintain this dynamic would be detrimental to all the countries involved.
