Anand, Champagne seek better economic ties with Mexico in the shadow of the U.S.’s continental trade disruption
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, pictured with Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum. / TWITTER PHOTO
As part of the federal government’s response to the U.S.’s new protectionist mindset, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand met with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday to expand bilateral ties.
The discussion was described as constructive. “What we have agreed is to build a work plan between Canada and Mexico, which focuses on a number of factors, for example, resilient supply chains, port-to-port lines of trade, artificial intelligence and the digital economy, energy security,” Anand said afterwards.
“For me, this was all about broadening and strengthening the great partnership that we enjoy with Mexico,” Champagne told the media. “You know, Mexico offers a lot of opportunities, and we've been looking at how we can bring the relationship to its full potential, looking at investment facilitation” and other possible economic cooperation, he added.
The ministers brushed aside questions on what they heard from Sheinbaum on how Mexico received a 90-day reprieve from higher tariffs by Trump last week while Canada did not. Anand said the meeting was focused on building a strong North American economy.
“I want to stress that Canada’s economic relationship with the United States differs significantly from Mexico’s,” she told reporters. “To parse out individual elements of one country’s negotiations versus our own is somewhat superficial, because the relationship is so very complex.”
Champagne later told CBC that Ottawa’s approach to negotiations with Trump has worked because Canada has been able to continue to take advantage of CUSMA, which gives Canadian exporters a pass on Trump’s tariffs that is enjoyed by few other countries.
