Mexican Ambassador to US Evades Confirming Trump’s Words About Agricultural Trade

Martha Barcena Coqui, Mexico’s Ambassador to the US did not say whether Mexico agreed to “immediately begin buying large quantities of agricultural products” made in America, as US President Trump claimed on Saturday.

She dodged the question even though CBS’s Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan attempted to press her several times.

"It is our understanding that without tariffs and with USMCA ratification, there will be an increased rate, both in agricultural products and manufacturing products," Coqui said.

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The so-called USMCA is supposed to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The document has been signed but not yet ratified by the three North American nations.

Asked specifically about Trump’s Twitter assertion the Ambassador said that the US and Mexico share an “integrated economy” in the agricultural sector, with Mexico exporting fruits and vegetables, and the US exporting grains and meats.

"We are your most important market and you are our most important market. Are trade and agriculture products going to grow? Yes, it is going to grow, and it is going to grow without tariffs and with USMCA ratification," she added.

Even when Brennan asked her for a third time whether Mexico agreed to any transactions in the agricultural sector as a part of the US-Mexico deal, the ambassador only said she can forecast that trade between the two countries will increase “dramatically” in the coming months.

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Agricultural trade was one of the clauses of the deal that the US and Mexico reached earlier on Friday. Another part of the deal was Mexico’s agreement to deploy 6,000 National Guard servicemen to Mexico’s southern border and across the country in order to curb the influx of immigrants crossing into the US illegally. In response, Trump said Washington will not impose tariffs on Mexican imports, as threatened in May.

Speaking to Brennan, Ambassador Coqui underscored that the Mexican National Guard is different from its US counterpart in that it is a police force. Therefore, all talks about Mexico militarizing its border are wrong, she said.

Under the deal, the US will expand the “Remain in Mexico” policy, officially known as the Migrant Protection Protocol, under which asylum seekers are required to stay in Mexico while US immigration authorities review their applications. As a part of the agreement, Mexico not only allows those returned from the US to stay in Mexico but also must offer them work permits, health care and education, the CBS report says.

US President Trump wants to curb the massive flow of illegal migrants originating mostly from three Central American countries. During the week of 24 May, 5,800 migrants — the highest ever for one day — crossed on a single day, according to a report by The New York Times. To curtail illegal crossings, Trump declared a national emergency and diverted billions in Pentagon funds to build a wall on the US-Mexico border.