Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Sunday she is optimistic of securing favourable trade agreements with the United States and other international partners.
She added that her government is also preparing to unveil new projects aimed at strengthening the country’s technology sector and boosting local innovation.
“I am confident we will reach a good agreement with the United States and all nations of the world regarding our trade relations,” she told a packed ceremony celebrating her first year in office in Mexico City’s central Zocalo square.
Made-In-Mexico Projects
Sheinbaum said her government would in the coming weeks present advances in made-in-Mexico projects developing electrical vehicles, semiconductors, satellites and drones, as part of a plan aligned with the changing trade environment.
The plan includes developing a local artificial intelligence, she said.
Elected last year and benefiting from approval ratings surpassing 70%, the climate scientist and former Mexico City mayor has spent much of her term navigating a complex relationship with the United States, Mexico’s top trade partner.
Latin America’s No. 2 economy has been largely spared the brunt of Trump administration tariffs thanks to a free trade agreement with the U.S. and Canada that is up for review next year.
Meanwhile, Mexico has also announced its own set of tariffs on countries with which it does not hold trade agreements – notably China – which analysts have seen as a response to pressure from Washington as it wages a trade war with Beijing.
As she presented her government’s accomplishments during her first year in office, Sheinbaum reiterated her government’s commitment to protecting the nation’s sovereignty and made a tongue-in-cheek nod to U.S. President Trump deciding earlier this year to rename the shared gulf between their countries.
“Raise your hands, let’s put it to a vote: who agrees that the train that will run from Mexico City to Nuevo Laredo should be called the Gulf of Mexico Train,” she asked to a round of applause, and declared the result a majority.
(With inputs from Reuters)
