Mexico to defend NAFTA using border security as leverage, top aides say - Polidicks

[quote]Mexico aims to defend free trade with the United States by using border security and immigration policy to gain leverage in talks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump after he takes office next month, senior officials say. To defuse Trump's threats to disrupt trade and investment, policymakers say Mexico aims to strike a balance between hearing out his concerns over illegal immigration and U.S. jobs, and adopting a firm posture to protect its own economic interests. Mexico wants security, immigration and management of the U.S.-Mexican border to be on the table alongside trade when it sits down to talk to the Trump administration, a person familiar with the government's thinking said, speaking on condition of anonymity. That could translate into Mexico offering to reinforce its northern border to curb drug smuggling and migrants, said one former high-level official familiar with discussions in Mexico. It might also mean giving the United States a bigger part to play in securing Mexico's southern border with Guatemala, where many thousands of illegal immigrants from the rest of Latin America pass through every year on their way to the United States, a senior Mexican government official said. After Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, Mexico needs to keep the discussion with Washington as broad as possible, said Victor Giorgana, a congressman in President Enrique Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. "It can't just be about one issue, as that would put us at a disadvantage," said Giorgana, who chairs the lower house foreign relations committee. Trump outraged Mexico during the campaign by accusing it of sending rapists and drug runners north, and by vowing to make it pay for a border wall to keep out illegal immigrants. Though bilateral discussions with Trump's team are already under way via informal channels, it is still unclear exactly what stance the Republican will take as president. No date has been set for formal talks, but Mexico's government has signaled its readiness to engage with Trump. NAFTA WORRY Mexico's main economic worry is the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the United States, Mexico and Canada that underpins the bulk of foreign direct investment. Trump has threatened to scrap NAFTA if he cannot rework it to his advantage. Mexico has said it could consider adding new chapters to the agreement covering issues such as labor standards to mollify U.S. trade unions anxious about cheaper Mexican workers. But with Mexico the No. 1 or No. 2 export market for almost half of the 50 U.S. states, there is widespread confidence the essence of the accord will be upheld. "At the end of the day it's clear that the amount of U.S. investment in Mexico based on NAFTA will prevail," said Andres Rozental, a former deputy foreign minister involved in ongoing bilateral discussions between top executives over trade. [/quote] [url]http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-mexico-idUSKBN14H0QZ[/url]

Good, give him a taste of his own medicine. I think they'll easily be able to turn this to their advantage. Let's see how much Trump's "word" is [I]really[/I] worth.

[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51597151]Good, give him a taste of his own medicine. I think they'll easily be able to turn this to their advantage. Let's see how much Trump's "word" is [I]really[/I] worth.[/QUOTE] Did you ever consider Mexico paying for more border security is something that Trump is for?

[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51597151]Good, give him a taste of his own medicine. I think they'll easily be able to turn this to their advantage. Let's see how much Trump's "word" is [I]really[/I] worth.[/QUOTE] It sounds like Mexico wants to work with Trump and help him achieve some of his goals while also securing a successful economic future for themselves. Win win.

[QUOTE=Tudd;51597157]Did you ever consider Mexico paying for more border security is something that Trump is for?[/QUOTE] I thought he was for building a wall and making it impenetrable. Mexico clearly isn't going to allow that, and I wouldn't be surprised if they asked for easier legal travel to the United States in exchange for helping somewhat with border security. They're not going to let him get his own way, certainly. They won't let him have his cake and eat it. [editline]29th December 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=MadPro119;51597159]It sounds like Mexico wants to work with Trump and help him achieve some of his goals while also securing a successful economic future for themselves. Win win.[/QUOTE] Perhaps. But wasn't getting rid of NAFTA one of Trump's main goals as well? I can't see that going down well with a lot of supporters.

[QUOTE=ilikecorn;51597182]That's not what the NAFTA issue is about. The NAFTA issue is that, because of NAFTA, you can relocate your company to mexico, pay the workers a quarter of what you'd pay a US worker, and have to abide by virtually zero environmental laws. Thus making it extremely attractive to move anything you can to mexico (or overseas). That's ultimately the problem with the free trade agreements, as long as one country has less protection for workers/the environment, then it's always going to look better as a place to set up shop. We pay for cheaper goods by having fewer jobs, which in turn, leads to us being able to afford less goods, which leads the companies to look for even cheaper labor. Which is why we're here now, with people pissed the hell off that we sent everything overseas, because no one thought about "oh man, it'd be nice to have a manufacturing base in the us", instead they said "oh shit we can make a ton of money, lets do this"[/QUOTE] I am certainly aware of the issues with free trade. The problem is though is that if you remove NAFTA or casterate it: 1) you make Mexico economically weaker, which is only going to increase illegal migration and people attempting to cross the border, as well as make it less table; 2) you're also going to hurt Canada too, which does afford the same (or better) protections for workers that America has; 3) you're going to hurt American businesses, to the extend that I wouldn't be surprised if there were a small net gain or loss of American jobs.

The real news here is that the Mexican government thinks it actually has any chance to contain or curb smuggling operations within its borders :v: Good luck, have fun.

[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51597163]I wouldn't be surprised if they asked for easier legal travel to the United States in exchange for helping somewhat with border security.[/QUOTE] After you remove all the crap the media throws in and Trump's crazy personality, this is practically what he is looking for. Trump has always used the "Big Beautiful Door" terminology to increase legal entry and decrease illegal entry.

[QUOTE=Smoot;51597292]After you remove all the crap the media throws in and Trump's crazy personality, this is practically what he is looking for. Trump has always used the "Big Beautiful Door" terminology to increase legal entry and decrease illegal entry.[/QUOTE] I'm fairly sure the whole wall thing came from Trump's mouth and not from the media. he made it clear what his views on Mexico and Mexicans were. Actually building the wall wasn't that much of a stretch.

Mexico:"we're going to build a wall along the southern border and make trump pay for it!" gotta lol, thats the ultimate irony [editline]29th December 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Smoot;51597292]After you remove all the crap the media throws in and Trump's crazy personality, this is practically what he is looking for. Trump has always used the "Big Beautiful Door" terminology to increase legal entry and decrease illegal entry.[/QUOTE] the republicans are talking like obama is giving the country away by letting a few thousand immigrants stay as DREAMers, i sincerely doubt they will increase our laughably small immigration quota from south america