Mexico's foreign minister, Luis Videgaray, said in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart on Saturday that the new trade agreements signed by Mexico with the United States and Canada would not affect economic relations with other countries, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.
The new trade agreement between the US, Mexico and Canada is intended to replace the original North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which provides that if one party concludes a new trade agreement with "non-market" countries such as China, the other party can withdraw and conclude bilateral agreements on its own within six months.
As the Sino-US trade war escalates, this mechanism will support U.S. President Trump's efforts to isolate China economically and allow Washington to effectively veto any trade agreement between Canada or Mexico and China.
Videgaray did not elaborate on whether Mexico sought such an agreement, but said the newly signed USMCA would not prevent it from signing bilateral agreements with other countries.
"Bidjalai said that Mexico is an independent sovereign state, the relevant agreements will not affect the exchanges between Mexico and China in any way, nor will they impose any restrictions on trade, investment and political relations between Mexico and China," the announcement said, Bidjalai said to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
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