Overview
- Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard reported that 84% of sector participants and 78.5% of state representatives back renewing the pact after consultations across 32 states and 30 sectors.
- Mexico’s negotiating plan concentrates on rules of origin, removing unilateral tariff actions and ensuring labor-certainty mechanisms, with an added push to cut reliance on Asian inputs.
- Formal bilateral talks with the United States begin in Washington the week of March 16, with a Canada round planned for May and a trilateral session targeted for July 2026.
- Business groups caution that tightening rules of origin could raise costs and disrupt integrated industries; autos seek to keep current rules, tires seek flexibility, and chemicals urge steps to prevent triangulation from Asia.
- Mexico will press to lift U.S. measures on steel, aluminum and vehicles that meet treaty rules, as consultations flagged concerns over Sections 232 and 301 actions, costly verifications, and logistics and energy bottlenecks; Ebrard also rejected annual reviews that would inject uncertainty.