Latinnews Daily - 23 January 2018

* Mexico’s economy ministry (SE) has lamented the US government’s decision not to exclude Mexico from the new import tariffs it has announced on imported washing machines (20%) and solar panels (25%). The move by the US government is in line with President Donald Trump’s policy of ‘America First’ that aims to protect US manufacturers from foreign competition via the adoption of protectionist economic policies. However, an SE statement lamented the decision noting that the “US’s own International Trade Commission [USITC] has concluded that US producers are not affected by the import of Mexican washing machines”; and that the import of solar panels from Mexico has helped to promote and develop the use of renewable energy in the US. The SE statement concludes by saying that “Mexico will use all the legal recourses available to it to ensure that the US fully meets its international obligations in particular when it comes to the payment of compensation under article 802.6 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta)”. According to US government data, Mexico exported US$278m in washing machines and US$1.12bn in solar panels to the US in 2016.

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