Mexico鈥檚 ambassador to Canada said that Mexico will not 鈥渙verreact鈥� to U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 new threat to slap tariffs on Mexican goods unless it cracks down on the flow of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, but called the pledge 鈥渧ery bad鈥� for the new North American free-trade agreement.
In an interview with CTV鈥檚 Power Play on Friday, Juan Jose Gomez Camacho, Mexico鈥檚 relatively new envoy to Canada, said that Mexico 鈥済ot surprised, as everybody else鈥� by the threat from the White House on Thursday night.
Trump warned in a series of tweets that he would begin imposing escalating tariffs on all imports to the U.S. from Mexico beginning next month
The timing of the president鈥檚 alert caught many off guard.
It came just hours after U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met in Ottawa in an effort to build momentum to pass the deal, which was signed last year. They also came nearly two weeks after Canada and the U.S. reached an agreement to lift steel and aluminum tariffs 鈥� a major impediment to the deal鈥檚 ratification.
Lawmakers in all three countries must approve the pact before it can go into force.
鈥淭his is unexpected. This is unwanted. This is a major challenge,鈥� said Gomez Camacho.
He added that Mexican President Manuel Lopez Obrador sent Trump a 鈥渧ery assertive鈥� letter that emphasized the importance of dialogue between their two countries, explained how Mexico has been working to curb migration flows and argued that tariffs are the wrong tool to use to address the issue.
鈥淭ariffs across the board hurt us all,鈥� Gomez Camacho said.
Mexico鈥檚 foreign minister and a delegation of other officials will be heading to Washington, D.C., next week, he said, to meet with their American counterparts.
鈥淲hat we need instead of being pressured by the U.S. is working with the U.S. to address this challenge,鈥� Gomez Camacho said, adding that the two countries need to find 鈥渃ommon understanding.鈥�
Canada introduced legislation earlier this week to ratify the deal before Parliament rises in June, and Mexico鈥檚 Senate received the agreement for study on Thursday.
Despite the 鈥渃hallenge鈥� posed by the threat, Gomez Camacho said that Mexico鈥檚 government will continue its efforts to pass the agreement and that he still believes Trump wants the agreement to go through, too.
鈥淲e are neighbours,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e are there and we will stay there.鈥�
