{"text":[[{"start":10.68,"text":"The US and Mexico are launching a long-awaited review of their trade agreement with Canada, as Mexican leaders seek to shield their economy from Donald Trump’s global trade crusade."}],[{"start":22.41,"text":"Mexico, the US’s largest trading partner, fears the US president may push for significant changes to the USMCA, the 2020 trade deal he signed during his first term to replace Nafta, as he tries to bring more manufacturing to the US."}],[{"start":42.89,"text":"Canada is due to hold separate talks with Mexico in May but has yet to set a date for its formal negotiations with the US. Canada and Mexico have both said they want the USMCA to remain a trilateral agreement."}],[{"start":58.22,"text":"Trump has made dismissive comments about the USMCA, imposed large tariffs on Mexican vehicles, steel and aluminium, and used trade as leverage to pressure Mexico to crack down on drug cartels."}],[{"start":73.16,"text":"Monday’s talks will focus on curbing imports from Asia and other regions, tightening the rules that make products eligible for the USMCA and improving North America’s supply chain security, according to statements from both governments."}],[{"start":90.00999999999999,"text":"Those are all priorities for the US, which wants to curb China’s investment in Mexico and accuses its southern neighbour of serving as a “backdoor” for Chinese products to enter the US at lower tariffs. Mexico imposed tariffs of up to 50 per cent on hundreds of imports from China and other countries, including cars, on January 1."}],[{"start":116.88999999999999,"text":"The talks would be “a good opportunity to develop a co-ordinated North American approach to Chinese automakers and Chinese auto content,” said Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, which represents all three major US automakers."}],[{"start":135.54,"text":"Mexican officials say their priority is to remove the tariffs imposed under Trump and reach an agreement as close as possible to the July 1 deadline laid out in the deal, which covers $1.8tn in trade, avoiding a drawn-out annual review process that would prolong uncertainty and reduce investment."}],[{"start":156.98999999999998,"text":"“We can’t afford to introduce structural uncertainty in the relationship,” economy minister Marcelo Ebrard told a press conference last week, arguing that North America needed clear trade rules to compete against Asian economies."}],[{"start":175.11999999999998,"text":"“An annual review is the worst scenario with regards to Asia,” he added."}],[{"start":181.30999999999997,"text":"The talks follow a tumultuous year for North American trade after Trump targeted Mexico and Canada with steep tariffs that threatened to devastate the auto industry, though he later offered some exemption for vehicles after strong opposition from US automakers."}],[{"start":199.35999999999999,"text":"The upheaval has hurt Mexico’s auto industry, the country’s largest exporter and employer. Passenger vehicle exports to the US fell 22 per cent in the last quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, according to central bank data."}],[{"start":218.85,"text":"The US on Thursday included Mexico in a list of countries against which it is launching investigations for unfair practices in manufacturing, which may result in fresh tariffs. It has also targeted the country as part of a probe into whether countries have adequate protections against importing goods made using forced labour. "}],[{"start":241.34,"text":"Juan Carlos Baker, who led Mexico’s USMCA negotiating team as trade secretary during the first Trump administration, said Mexico might use the review to demand exemptions from Washington’s international tariff efforts."}],[{"start":257.22,"text":"“The US has put a lot of demands on the table,” Baker said. He cited restrictions on Chinese direct investment in Mexico, tighter limits on what share of USMCA-eligible products must originate in North America and stricter rules that indirectly favour production in the US over Mexico."}],[{"start":278.8,"text":"“If the US is really expecting Mexico to do all of that, I would say: ‘OK let’s talk but first you guarantee that you leave me out of the tariffs’,” he added."}],[{"start":290.48,"text":"Trump has explicitly linked trade relations to Mexico’s progress in tackling organised crime. Last month, the US Supreme Court struck down tariffs imposed in 2025 in retaliation for fentanyl trafficking and weak border security."}],[{"start":307.28000000000003,"text":"But Diego Marroquín Bitar, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said those issues might also be part of the USMCA talks. “The progress on security for Mexico is the gatekeeper of economic certainty,” he said."}],[{"start":325.36,"text":"Still, US companies’ heavy reliance on Mexico for their supply chains and Trump’s wider goal of decoupling from China should give Mexico some leverage, analysts said."}],[{"start":337.51,"text":"“The US needs Mexico if it wants to find ways to substitute its own imports from China, and achieve many other priorities for US national security,” said Antonio Ortiz Mena, a former Mexican diplomat and professor at Georgetown University."}],[{"start":354.40999999999997,"text":"“You can have less Mexico and Canada, or you can have less China, but you can’t have both.”"}],[{"start":361.53999999999996,"text":" Additional reporting by Ilya Gridneff in Toronto"}],[{"start":375.17999999999995,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1773624697_6214.mp3"}