China’s request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Treaty of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TIPAT) is a great opportunity for its member countries; However, it puts Mexico at a crossroads due to its trade commitments with the United States, specialists agreed.
Enrique Dussel Peters, coordinator of the China-Mexico Studies Center (Cechimex), explained that the Mexico, United States and Canada Treaty (T-MEC) includes an article indicating that a country that begins negotiations with non-market economies – like China – must report, and may be left out of the deal.
Therefore, said the specialist of the organization that belongs to the National Autonomous University of Mexico, in the event that China’s entry into the trans-Pacific agreement is completed, technically Mexico and Canada (both members) would be putting the continuity of their agreement at risk. trade with the EU.
The TIPAT was born in 2016 promoted by the EU; However, with the arrival of Donald Trump to the presidency, that country withdrew from the agreement. Over the years it was modified until its entry into force in 2018 with the signature of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
Dussel Peters recalled that said agreement was proposed by former US President Barack Obama as a kind of “anti-China wall” that was later rejected by Trump. With the arrival of Joe Biden, he said, the reincorporation of the Americans was expected; however, who is interested in being part of the alliance is the Asian giant.
“Everyone hoped that with Biden the US would return to the agreement, but ironically the first that said it wants to participate is China. That will put the members of TIPAT in a serious political, strategic and technical dilemma, because it is difficult to say no to an economy like China. In addition, for Mexico and Canada it will be even harder due to their close relationship with the US ”, explained the specialist.
Fernando de Mateo, permanent representative of Mexico to the World Trade Organization, the ideal would be for the US and China to sit down to negotiate and reach an agreement so that both would be part of the TIPAT and thus enhance the commercial activity of all the countries that make up The alliance; however, it is something that will not happen.
Given this scenario, he said, although it is not a simple decision, the members of the Trans-Pacific Agreement should facilitate access to China given the size of its market.
The foregoing, the specialist considered, would not be enough to end the T-MEC, because although there is a warning in one of the articles of the treaty, the US needs Mexico and Canada as much as they need it, so ties would be broken. And on the contrary, for Mexico it would be a great opportunity to increase its trade with China and seek the arrival of greater investment from that country.
For Dussel Peters, it is not a question of Mexico choosing between one country or another, given that it has a very strong and historical relationship with the United States, but it must find a balance to get closer to the world’s largest economy, measured by imports plus exports. as is China since last year.
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