Canada said on Thursday that it raised concerns with Mexico about the investment climate in the Latin American country during the first day of the ministerial meeting of the T-Treaty Treaty’s Free Trade Commission. MEC held in Vancouver (Canada).

In a bilateral meeting between Mexico’s Secretary of Economy, Tatiana Clouthier Carrillo, and Canada’s Minister of International Trade, Mary Ng, held today, the Canadian representative “reiterated” her concerns as for the investment climate, “particularly in the mining and energy sectors.

Canada and the United States have criticized the energy policy of the government of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which limits foreign investment in the sector and favors state-owned companies.

Canada’s Department for International Trade also said in a statement that Ng had raised concerns with Clouthier about Mexico’s biotechnology sector approval process.

In the past, the United States and Canada have expressed their disagreement with Mexico’s halt to the approval of biotech products in the agricultural sector.

In addition, last December the Mexican government announced that it would ban the planting of genetically modified corn as well as the use of glyphosate, a popular herbicide, by 2024.

Minister Ng expressed to Secretary Clouthier Canada’s commitment to the full implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, T-MEC, and to working with Mexico to “maintain resilient supply chains , supporting stable and predictable trade and increasing competitiveness”.

On the first day of the ministerial meeting, Secretary Clouthier, Minister Ng and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai also participated in the North American Women in Business Summit dialogue forum.

The forum, which was attended by entrepreneurs from all three countries, was organized to celebrate T-MEC’s ​​second anniversary and to promote “the importance of diversity and inclusion in business”.

During the forum, Secretary Clouthier emphasized that for the Mexican government, inclusion “is one of the guiding principles” of economic development and well-being.

Friday, the last day of the ministerial meeting, Clouthier, Ng and Tai will hold a trilateral meeting during which they will discuss the operation of the T-MEC during the celebration of its second anniversary.