Trade agreement with South Korea would put the Mexican economy at risk: Canacintra State of Mexico

The president of the National Chamber of the Transformation Industry (Canacintra) in the State of Mexico, Imelda Meza Parrilla, assured that a possible Free Trade Agreement with South Korea would put the country's economy at risk, since it would increase the negative trade balance with that Asian nation.

According to Meza Parrilla, this trade agreement could flood Mexico with electronics, articles from the metal-mechanical sector and the steel industry, where the State of Mexico has a significant production, so they would present strong competition for the national industry, Milenio said.

The president of Canacintra, said that it is not logical that on the one hand the Ministry of Finance seeks to increase relations with the United States in order to position Mexico as its main trading partner and supplier; and on the other, the Ministry of Economy should continue negotiations to establish a treaty Commercial with South Korea.

“Today it doesn't seem the best decision to start negotiations with South Korea, where we already have a very unfavorable trade balance, where the industrial sector has little to supply the Korean market,” he warned.

The president of Canacintra in the State of Mexico explained that the current commercial conditions are geared towards a supply chain in the primary sector, in which Mexico has better possibilities.

However, the balance is unfavorable, so the issue is analyzed as national security, where it seeks to protect the country's industrial producers.

However, he acknowledged that progress had been made at the negotiating tables.

“The balance of the domestic industry is that the pandemic conditions and the economic changes that have occurred in recent years allow Asian suppliers to be replaced by Mexican suppliers and thus regain the competitiveness of employment held at the national level.”

The possible trade agreement between Mexico and South Korea has generated widespread rejection in the Mexican business sector.

Last March, within the framework of the 5th National Meeting of the Fibre, Textile, Clothing and Footwear Chain, the national textile industry asked the federal government to withdraw from the treaty with that country, while calling for it to focus on the implementation of the T-MEC.

The president of the National Chamber of the Textile Industry (Canaitex), Manuel Espinosa Maurer, asked to take care of the national market and to review all existing trade agreements, in order to make them truly beneficial.

He highlighted that to date, Mexico exports only 689 million pesos to South Korea, while South Korea exports 62 billion pesos to our country.

“We don't see how we can export it to South Korea, we have a deficit in the balance. Just as we are, we export 689 million pesos to them and they export 62 billion pesos to us,” he said.

He warned that South Korea's closeness to China poses a danger to smuggling and illegality.

For its part, the Ministry of Economy (SE) has pointed out that the fears of Mexican businessmen are similar to those they had 30 years ago with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Within the framework of the National Meeting of the Fibre, Textile, Clothing and Footwear Chain, the Secretary of Economy, Tatiana Clouthier, said that “starting a negotiation does not mean a final agreement, it is a negotiation, it is the beginning of, it does not mean that tomorrow is turned around and all sectors are listened to,” he said.

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