[LINK] "How Mexicans are planning to hit back at Trump"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Maria Jimenez interviews former Mexican congressman Agustin Barrios Gomez on the subject of how Mexico should deal with President Trump.

How are Mexicans reacting to Trump’s threatening carmakers not to open plants in Mexico?

Mexicans are still shell-shocked. The idea that the U.S. is now a mercantilist predator is taking a long time to sink in. People wanted to think it was campaign rhetoric, but the cancellation of the Ford plant in San Luis Potosi is bringing it home for a lot of people.

How can the Mexican government and business community counteract Trump’s refrain that the North American Free Trade Agreement is costing the U.S. jobs?

North America is competing with other regions of the world and fully 40 cents of every dollar the U.S. imports from Mexico comes from content produced in America. (Parts often cross the border several times while U.S. and Mexican factories work together to finish a product).

North America is competitive only insofar as we act as a team. Beggar-thy-neighbour policies act in detriment to everyone in the three countries.

What do independent studies conclude about the benefits of NAFTA?

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 14 million Americans have jobs that are a direct result of trade with Canada and Mexico. Mexico is the No. 1 or No. 2 export market for 23 U.S. states, including Texas and California.

Comments

[dewline]

The DT team is targeting Mexico now because they can play the bigotry card in some quarters and get some traction from that.