The Government of Mexico prepares for consultations filed by its neighboring countries under the mechanism of the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC) on Mexican energy policy, reported Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard.

“We are already collaborating with the Ministry of the Economy, which has the legal powers, it is the counterpart of the USTR, which is the one that asks us for consultations by the United States, and also with the Canadian Ministry of Commerce. , “, he explained through social networks.

United States and Canada They asked for the mechanism because they consider that the energy policies are contrary to the T-MEC.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) considers the Mexican measures to be discriminatory and they “harm” their businesses for the benefit of the Federal Electricity Commission of the Mexican State (CFE) and Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex).

Through a video shared on his Facebook account, the Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs explained that the consultation process is organized as a dialogue to “understand what your counterpart is proposing and try to achieve a kind of rapprochement before moving on to a panel”.

The process takes 75 days since consultation was requested to resolve the dispute. In case of non-arrival to an EU agreement may request the setting up a panel to decide the question.

“We are working as a team to clearly identify what the arguments are, respond to them and start this dialogue,” the diplomat said.

Following the announcement of the consultations, concerns were expressed about the implications this could have for Mexico.

Kenneth Smith Ramos, former head of technical trading for T-MEC, said in an interview with Aristegui live last July 21 the country could face million-dollar trade sanctions.

By contrast, last Saturday, Ebrard argued that Mexico could also impose tariffs. Later, he assured that he considered the expert groups “a better way than the traditional bilateral, which consists of one country imposing tariffs on another because of its decision”.

“It’s better to have a panel where you have a third party than to have a tariff applied unilaterally,” the foreign minister said after a meeting in Cancun with businessmen.