Reuters:
The Biden administration plans to send Mexico an "act now or else"
message in coming weeks in an attempt to break a stalemate in an energy
trade dispute as bipartisan calls grow for the U.S. to get tougher with
its southern neighbor, according to people familiar with the
discussions.
The move would represent a significant escalation in already-strained
tensions between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Mexican counterpart,
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Obrador's decision to roll back reforms aimed at opening Mexico's power
and oil markets to outside competitors sparked the trade dispute.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is expected
to make what was described as a "final offer" to Mexico negotiators to
open its markets and agree to some increased oversight, three people
familiar with the talks told Reuters. If not, the U.S. will request an
independent dispute settlement panel under the Unites States Mexico
Canada Agreement, or USMCA, they said.
The United States and Canada demanded dispute settlement talks with
Mexico in July, 250 days ago. Under USMCA rules, after 75 days without a
resolution they were free to request a dispute settlement panel, a
third party that rules on the case.
At an event on Monday, Mexico's Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro said
the United States has been entitled to call for a panel since Oct. 3.
If the panel rules against Mexico and it fails to take corrective
action, Washington and Ottawa could ultimately impose billions of
dollars in retaliatory tariffs on Mexican goods.
The White House has hoped to avoid escalating trade tensions with Mexico
as it sought help on immigration and drug trafficking. But months of
talks have yielded little progress and the administration has run out of
less-combative options, the sources told Reuters...
