Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the North American Leaders Summit that he is open to dialogue with Canadian businesses to resolve differences.

Mexico’s president “has established a commitment to receive Canadian companies with outstanding issues,” to whom he has ratified his willingness to speak, says a statement from the Mexican government about the meeting in which the two leaders promised to move forward on issues such as the possibilities for integration offered by the treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada, T-MEC.

Ahead of the bilateral meeting in Mexico City, where the summit wrapped up on Wednesday, López Obrador said he discussed with Trudeau investment plans and disputes to be resolved on various issues, including related to energy policy. “We are always open to dialogue,” he repeated.

“We discussed economic issues related to investments by Canadian companies in Mexico, mining companies, major companies like TransCanada, which is investing to build a gas pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico. It is a big investment which is very important, because it will be a question of supplying gas to the south-east of Mexico”, indicated the Mexican president.

“We also talked about companies that operate in the electricity sector. We seek to resolve the problems, the differences that logically arise with regard to these economic, commercial relations, and also in good times, because Canadian investments in Mexico are increasing a lot, like never before,” he added.

Since last July, Canada and the United States have been asking Mexico for consultations on energy policy, after denouncing that their intention is to favor state companies such as the electricity company CFE to the detriment of foreign companies, despite commitments made in the T-MEC.

Before heading to Mexico, Trudeau told Reuters that together with the United States, he would support López Obrador that resolving the dispute over policies favoring Mexican energy companies would help him attract more foreign investment.

The López Obrador government has repeatedly criticized alleged non-payment of taxes by Canadian companies, as well as alleged effects on indigenous communities, an issue on which the two leaders signed pledges on rights and environmental damage.

After the Mexican government refused to negotiate, Canadian company First Majestic Silver launched arbitration proceedings against Mexico in March 2020 in a protracted tax dispute related to its San Dimas gold-silver mine. .

In early December, Mexico’s Secretary of Economy, Raquel Buenrostro, criticized mining companies at a press conference for paying, according to her, only 0.002% of their total revenues to the public treasury.