Changing Sides? Mexico May Focus on Trade With China Amid Tensions With US

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) — Mexico may focus on trade with China instead of the United States due to emerging tensions in trade relations with the neighboring country, Mexican Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal said Thursday.

"We are going to visit China in September to continue our agenda, and we will use this [visit] geopolitically as a strategic leverage [in trade]. We are sending a signal that we have a lot of alternatives [to the United States]," Guajardo said.

In December, Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi agreed on boosting trade and investment ties with then Mexican Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu. The talks took place after the election of Donald Trump as the president of the United States.

Trump's victory at the US presidential election was considered by the Mexican authorities as a threat to the US-Mexican trade relations as during his presidential campaign, Trump had pledged to renegotiate or withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which Mexico is part of.

According to the US Department of State, Mexico's exports rely heavily on supplying the US market, but the country has also sought to diversify its export destinations. Nearly 80 percent of Mexico’s exports go to the United States, the Department's official figures showed.