MEXICO
It’s Not You, It’s Me
Breaking up is hard to do, US and Mexican trade negotiators are finding.
In the latest salvo in the battle over revising the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said Wednesday that the US is trying to use the negotiations to strengthen the position of a single American company, AT&T, Reuters reported.
At issue is a landmark Mexican telecommunications reform aimed at breaking the dominance of Carlos Slim’s America Movil, which enticed AT&T into the market in 2014 – when it shelled out $4.4 billion to buy Mexico’s No. 3 and No. 4 carriers.
This August, Mexico’s Supreme Court undercut a key part of the reform by ruling that America Movil should not be barred by law from charging its rivals for calls to its network. But now US negotiators are angling to get the reform included in the NAFTA deal.
“There is the principle that we are negotiating as three countries,” said Mexico Senator Gerardo Flores. “And suddenly the United States puts on the table a proposal that demands commitments specifically from Mexico.”
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