Why would not Canada have already got a stronger relationship with Mexico?

[ad_1] With tensions as soon as once more heating up in Canada's commerce negotiations with america, and the Trump administration blaming the "elbows up" strategy, Canadian officers are scrambling to construct new relationships, together with with certainly one of its closest neighbours: Mexico.

The trouble started on the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., in June, the place Prime Minister Mark Carney invited Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to satisfy with him privately, International Affairs Minister Anita Anand mentioned from Mexico Metropolis Tuesday.

Anand is within the Mexican capital with Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne to construct a "bilateral financial relationship."

However the journey has prompted some consultants to ask why it did not occur sooner. Carney's first journey overseas was to France and the UK, the place he mentioned not solely broadening commerce, however safety ties as effectively and invited King Charles to ship the throne speech.

Whereas France and Britain are key allies, Mexico is an even bigger buying and selling companion than these two nations, mentioned Laura Macdonald, a political science professor at Carleton College.

"There is a historic reluctance by Canada to have interaction severely with Mexico," Macdonald mentioned. "And there is a tendency for them to fail once they attempt to work collectively."

Anand and Champagne's go to indicators a willingness to vary that, Macdonald added.

No bilateral commerce settlement, says Sheinbaum Whereas the 2 senior ministers met with Sheinbaum for greater than an hour and Champagne hailed the talks as "fairly extraordinary," anybody hoping that they would depart with the makings of a bilateral commerce deal should not get their hopes up.

At a information convention Wednesday, Sheinbaum mentioned her assembly with the Canadians was "excellent," however that "there isn't any want" for a separate settlement. "We have now the commerce take care of america, Canada and Mexico," Sheinbaum mentioned.

Anand wrote on X Wednesday that she and Champagne are assembly with Mexican enterprise leaders on the second day of their journey "to discover new alternatives and to strengthen strategic partnerships."

<img loading="lazy" alt="People are seated at a table in front of a Mexican and Canadian flag." srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/1.7602596.1754508621!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_1180/anand-champagne-mexico-visit.jpg?im=Resize%3D300 300w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7602596.1754508621!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_1180/anand-champagne-mexico-visit.jpg?im=Resize%3D460 460w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7602596.1754508621!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_1180/anand-champagne-mexico-visit.jpg?im=Resize%3D620 620w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7602596.1754508621!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_1180/anand-champagne-mexico-visit.jpg?im=Resize%3D780 780w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7602596.1754508621!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_1180/anand-champagne-mexico-visit.jpg?im=Resize%3D1180 1180w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 300px,(max-width: 460px) 460px,(max-width: 620px) 620px,(max-width: 780px) 780px,(max-width: 1180px) 1180px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/1.7602596.1754508621!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_1180/anand-champagne-mexico-visit.jpg?im=" style="aspect-ratio:1.7771084337349397" data-cy="image-img"/> International Affairs Minister Anita Anand and Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne are seen at a desk with Mexican enterprise leaders in a photograph posted by Anand to X Wednesday. (Anita Anand/X) Getting over the halting nature of Canada and Mexico's relationship will take work, Macdonald mentioned.

Canadian companies have been so used to prioritizing U.S. companions that there was little effort to, for instance, study Spanish or work to beat different cultural limitations, she mentioned.

"I do not suppose it has been taken severely as a contemporary, diversifying financial system and I believe that is short-sighted and portrays our type of colonial mindset towards the world generally," Macdonald mentioned.

"Mexicans, equally, do not know very a lot about Canada, and consider it as a chilly place and an extension of america."

WATCH | 'Elbows up' units Canada aside from Mexico in negotiations, says U.S. ambassador: 'Vitality within the room:’ U.S. ambassador on why no tariff extension for Canada

Tariffs on non-CUSMA-compliant items from Canada at the moment are at 35 per cent after U.S. President Donald Trump raised them following a self-imposed deadline, whereas Mexico is given an extension for ongoing negotiations. U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra talks to Energy & Politics in regards to the totally different outcomes, and the present state of the cross-border relationship. Macdonald has been a part of a undertaking by the Canadian union Unifor to companion with Mexican unions to assist battle labour abuses in Mexico.

"It is necessary for Canada to be seen as a part of options to issues of inequality in Mexico … and never simply see it as a website for low-wage manufacturing because it was type of constructed into NAFTA and CUSMA," Macondald mentioned.

She famous that association contributed to the U.S. and Canada shedding manufacturing jobs.

<img loading="lazy" alt="A woman poses for selfies in a crowd surrounding her." srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/1.7602606.1754508972!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/cda-g7-leaders-20250616.JPG?im=Resize%3D300 300w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7602606.1754508972!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/cda-g7-leaders-20250616.JPG?im=Resize%3D460 460w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7602606.1754508972!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/cda-g7-leaders-20250616.JPG?im=Resize%3D620 620w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7602606.1754508972!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/cda-g7-leaders-20250616.JPG?im=Resize%3D780 780w,https://i.cbc.ca/1.7602606.1754508972!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/cda-g7-leaders-20250616.JPG?im=Resize%3D1180 1180w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 300px,(max-width: 460px) 460px,(max-width: 620px) 620px,(max-width: 780px) 780px,(max-width: 1180px) 1180px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/1.7602606.1754508972!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/original_1180/cda-g7-leaders-20250616.JPG?im=" style="aspect-ratio:1.353211009174312" data-cy="image-img"/> Sheinbaum is seen with supporters when she was in Alberta for the G7 summit in June. The Mexican president continues to be in commerce negotiations with america. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press) Stuart Bergman, the vice-president and chief economist at Export Improvement Canada (EDC), has made a case for shoring up Canada's commerce relationship with Mexico.

In April, he wrote on EDC's web site that solely three per cent of Canada's two-way merchandise commerce is attributed to Mexico, whereas the U.S. accounts for 70 per cent. He mentioned {that a} portion of the merchandise Mexico imports from China could possibly be changed by Canadian equal merchandise, together with autos and elements.

Canada-Mexico commerce 'far beneath potential' Tuesday, the Enterprise Council of Canada echoed Bergman's publish, calling Canada (BCC)'s commerce and enterprise ties to Mexico "underdeveloped and much beneath its potential."

Canada and Mexico purchase fewer than three per cent of one another's general exports, wrote Shauna Hemingway, the BCC's senior particular adviser on Mexico and the Americas.

And whereas Canadian investments in Mexico have elevated "dramatically" since 2010, Mexican funding in Canada stalled at $3.1 billion US in 2023, she mentioned.

"Our lack of ability to precisely assess what we imply to one another's economies … impacts our decision-making and each nations are inclined to look far more readily to the east to Europe and west to Asia," Hemingway mentioned.

Economists and commerce consultants say the potential for elevated commerce lies particularly in items not coated by the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Settlement (CUSMA) — comparable to uncooked supplies like lumber and important minerals, in addition to on items U.S. President Donald Trump has slapped with excessive tariffs (or threatened to take action), together with metal, aluminum, copper, autos and prescription drugs.

Anand mentioned Canada and Mexico have agreed to construct a piece plan that focuses on resilient provide chains, port-to-port traces of commerce, synthetic intelligence, agri-food, the digital financial system and power safety.

WATCH | G7 prompted Canada-Mexico diplomatic efforts, says Anand: Anand says momentum to construct Canada-Mexico relationship began at G7 summit

International Affairs Minister Anita Anand mentioned Prime Minister Mark Carney had an 'wonderful' bilateral dialog with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., in June. Anand mentioned she and Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne are persevering with to construct on the momentum created by that dialog, whereas guaranteeing Canadians' pursuits are represented. On the periphery of Canada's diplomatic efforts towards Mexico, a hearsay emerged that the 2 nations had agreed to create a "commerce hall" in some way bypassing U.S. duties.

The hearsay seems to have come from a seemingly AI-generated YouTube video from the channel PPR Mundial posted July 18, alleging Canada and Mexico are planning to divert $120-billion value of U.S. commerce from American ports by delivering items by rail and sea "with out getting into Texas ports" in a so-called "Northern Hall."

The video claims Canada's exports like metal, "maple" and lumber will head to the Gulf of Mexico by way of a "coastal transport bridge." The space between the 2 nations' largest ports, the Port of Vancouver and Port of Manzanillo, is round 4,917 kilometres by ship in accordance with one estimate.

The video is riddled with factual errors, together with the varieties of customs charged on items passing via the U.S. in addition to commerce and financial figures, and infrequently cites verifiable sources.

"The very first thing I assumed is, 'How on this planet would this be accomplished?'" mentioned Debra Steger, professor emerita on the College of Ottawa's college of regulation and a senior fellow on the Centre for Worldwide Governance Innovation and the C. D. Howe Institute, specializing in worldwide commerce regulation.

"I suppose when you went out into worldwide waters, positive, OK. However I imply, what number of items might you placed on ships and the way lengthy would it not take for them to get there? And placing issues on planes — you may't put every little thing on a airplane and it's totally, very costly."

Steger added that she hopes Champagne and Anand are exchanging data with Mexican officers on their respective nations' negotiations with the U.S.

It is unclear if that has occurred. When requested repeatedly by reporters Tuesday night, the ministers declined to reply whether or not they knew why Mexico has been thus far spared the 35 per cent tariffs on non-CUSMA-compliant items.

Anand mentioned solely that Canada and Mexico's commerce relationships to the U.S. are complicated and totally different. Carney indicated Tuesday that Canada might ease up on retaliatory tariffs and that he would have a cellphone name with Trump when it "is sensible."