Canadian federal ministers travel to Mexico to discuss trade.
Amid the trade war with the United States, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Foreign Minister Anita Anand departed for Mexico on Monday evening. They are scheduled to meet with Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, according to sources from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Radio Canada was able to confirm the information first reported by The Globe and Mail.
Minister Champagne stated on Monday morning: “In a world where everyone is seeking to reconsider supply chains, develop new markets, and diversify exports, Mexico is a strategic market for us.”
This diplomatic visit by the two ministers from the Canadian federal government comes after Canada and Mexico failed to reach a trade agreement with Washington before the deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump on August 1st.
Yet, Trump treated the two countries differently.
Trump delayed the implementation of his latest threat to impose tariffs on Mexico for 90 days. This would have increased tariffs to 30% on products not compliant with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
Meanwhile, Canada experienced an increase in tariffs on some of its products from 25% to 35% on Friday at the beginning of this month.
In a related development, Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, said in an interview on a Radio Canada news program last Friday that “the discussions between the Trump administration and Mexico are different from our discussions,” specifically pointing to issues of immigration and drug trafficking at the border between the two countries.
Last Thursday, Trump praised his discussions with his Mexican counterpart, Claudia Sheinbaum, in a post on his Truth Social page, describing them as “extremely productive” to justify the grace period granted to Mexico. A few hours later, the White House condemned Canada’s continued retaliatory response, among other issues, as a reason for imposing additional tariffs.
It is worth noting that since last March, Ottawa has imposed retaliatory tariffs of 25% on a list of American products valued at approximately $60 billion in annual exports. The federal government also added reciprocal tariffs on certain American-made automobiles.
Minister LeBlanc noted that the federal government is closely monitoring the Trump administration’s relations with all its trading partners to ensure Canada remains as competitive as possible.
Minister LeBlanc added, “This situation remains the same today as it was yesterday."
It is noted that in May, Canadian products exported to the United States were subject to an average tariff rate of 1.9%, compared to 4.3% for Mexico.
In mid-July, Prime Minister Mark Carney discussed with Claudia Sheinbaum ways to strengthen the Canadian and Mexican economies and improve their competitiveness.
In 2024, the two countries exchanged goods worth $56 billion, according to Statistics Canada, making Mexico Canada’s third-largest trading partner.
