When is an airport more than airport? When it is a bellwether for a nation’s economic policy.

This week, Mexico held a referendum on the construction of a new major airport at the behest of the country’s incoming president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

López Obrador, known as AMLO, has long complained about the costs and environmental impact of the project, which began several years ago, even as experts and members of his own transition team warned him that voiding plans for the airport would prompt an economic disaster. It would send a message to investors, critics said, that López Obrador was hostile to the private sector, that existing public contracts might not be respected.

Still, López Obrador decided that he would go ahead with the referendum Sunday, a hasty poll that drew only 1 percent of Mexican voters. When those voters rejected plans for the new airport, López Obrador called the decision “democratic, rational and efficient.”

The market disagreed. The peso fell by more than 3 percent. The stock market fell by more than 4 percent. Analysts at JPMorgan Chase cut their 2019 forecast for Mexican growth. Juan Pablo Castañon, director of Mexico’s Business Coordinating Council, said the decision “seriously hurts Mexico’s image in the world” and “sends a message of uncertainty” to potential investors.

Because of completed construction and existing contracts, the cancellation could cost the country $5 billion. It’s unclear what will be done with the existing site — the airport’s foundation is already partially laid.

Global financial markets and the Mexican business community have struggled to predict what kind of economic policy López Obrador would pursue. The 64-year-old has been a longtime fixture on the country’s political left. He has criticized the privatization of the petroleum industry and proposed a wide range of social programs without coherently explaining how they would be funded.

 During his campaign, he spent significant time trying to convince Mexicans that he wasn’t the radical leftist that some of his opponents suggested. He recruited business leaders to join his team, including Alfonso “Poncho” Romo, slated to become his chief of staff.

“Poncho is with me to help convince the businessmen who have been told we’re like Venezuela,” he said at one campaign stop.

But even as he sailed to victory by a wide margin in the July vote, the airport hovered over López Obrador as an early, important test for how he might govern.

In 2014, President Enrique Peña Nieto announced that he would launch plans to replace Mexico City’s aging airport, the busiest in Latin America. The plan was ambitious and expensive: an $8.7 billion project in the wetland in Texcoco, north of the city, whose price tag grew to more than $13 billion. Billionaire investor Carlos Slim came on board. Award-winning British architect Norman Foster did the design. By some measures, it would be the third-largest airport in the world.

Millions, or more, had already been spent on construction by the time Sunday’s referendum was held. Still, López Obrador said he would continue with the referendum, alluding to concerns that it threatens a wilderness area with aquatic birds and could lead to flooding in the area. He suggested an alternative: adding commercial airstrips to an existing military airport north of the city.

That’s the option that voters chose Sunday, even though a fraction of Mexicans came to the polls. Aside from questions of López Obrador’s economic policy — and whether he could be counted on to respect existing contacts — the episode raised doubts about whether Mexico’s next president would attempt to govern through poorly organized referendums.

“AMLO’s use of referendums in Mexico in the name of direct democracy raises concerns over the erosion of existing democratic institutions and of policy predictability,” Fiona Mackie with the Economist Intelligence Unit said in a tweet, referring to the incoming president.

OTTAWA — Mexico’s future foreign minister says he thinks biting U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs slapped on his country and Canada could be lifted once the three continental partners sign a newly negotiated free trade agreement.

But Marcelo Ebrard, who will assume his new post Dec. 1 when the incoming Mexican government takes office, offered few details Monday on the timing of the trade pact’s ratification.

“We believe that it’s not the very best agreement, but we do need to support the advances that have been made,” Ebrard said through an interpreter at a news conference in Ottawa alongside Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland.

“We believe that it’s worth supporting the agreement, looking to the future of all three countries.”

Canada and Mexico have responded to the American tariffs by imposing their own retaliatory levies on U.S. imports. The dispute has failed to disappear even after the three countries reached an agreement-in-principle this month on an updated North American free trade pact, also known as the USMCA.

The trilateral agreement was struck before a deadline imposed by the U.S. Congress. The aim was to get the deal fast-tracked and voted on by Dec. 1, ahead of the incoming government of president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The outgoing Mexican government negotiated the deal, but officials from Lopez Obrador’s team were inside the room. Ebrard said the Mexican congress is currently looking at elements of the new deal.

Both Ebrard and Freeland were noncommittal Monday on the subject of when they expected the Trump administration to lift the U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum, which have been in place since June.

“I think that the time when that might occur is when the agreement is signed,” Ebrard told reporters.

“What I expect, based on my communications with the current government, is that this maybe can be resolved. With the current agreement-in-principle, I believe that we will adopt a policy that will leave behind tariffs and quotas between ourselves because that goes against the free trade agreement.”

He added he hoped there would be an opportunity to get rid of them as soon as possible.

The Canadian government has insisted the steel and aluminum tariffs are a separate issue from the USMCA — but Trump has acknowledged publicly that the levies helped to expedite the new continental trade deal.

Either way, Freeland offered no timeline Monday as to when she expected the tariffs to be removed.

“I’d love them to be lifted today — there is nothing at all stopping any of us from lifting these tariffs,” Freeland said.

“We think that would be great further evidence of the importance of the North American partnership and that is what we’re communicating very directly to our U.S. partners.”

She repeated the Liberal government’s position that the tariffs, which are based on the premise Canada poses a national security risk to the U.S., are “unjustified and illegal.” Ottawa, she added, is challenging the levies at the World Trade Organization and at North American Free Trade Agreement panels.

Freeland predicted the positive momentum from the USMCA negotiations should lead to the tariff standoff’s resolution.

“It is quite reasonable to think that that positive momentum should bring Canada and the United States to simply say, ‘You know what? It’s time to lift these tariffs that we’ve imposed on each other,’ ” she said.

A Canadian source, who’s close to the ongoing talks to resolve the ongoing tariff standoff, said late last week that Washington is trying to get Ottawa to agree to a quota system in order for the U.S. to remove steel and aluminum duties.

Canada is dead set against agreeing to quotas that would limit its exports , said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive negotiations.

Freeland and Ebrard’s meeting was one of several in Ottawa on Monday between the Trudeau government and Lopez Obrador’s future cabinet ministers. They also sat down with International Trade Minister Jim Carr and Mexico’s incoming economy minister, Graciela Marquez.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Mexican officials later in the day.

MEXICO CITY, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) — China’s first-ever import expo, scheduled for Nov. 5-10 in Shanghai, is an opportunity for Mexican exporters and export promotion agencies to strengthen trade ties with the Asian giant, local market analysts have told Xinhua.

“We should focus not just on the sale of traditional products like apparel or food, but also try to sell different kinds of services, especially online-based services,” said Jorge Sanchez Tello, head of applied research at the Financial Studies Fund of Mexico’s Autonomous Technological Institute.

In the lead up to the China International Import Expo (CIIE), China’s embassy in Mexico has said the trade fair is designed to do more than satisfy the growing demand of Chinese consumers, Sanchez said.

It aims to spur China’s ongoing process of opening-up to the world and show its willingness to share its development gains with other countries, Sanchez added.

Mexico and China raised bilateral ties to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2013, and China has become Mexico’s second-biggest trade partner, after the United States.

Bilateral trade and investment have picked up in recent years, with Chinese and Mexican businesses successfully venturing into each other’s markets.

While Mexico has a trade deficit with China, that’s not necessarily “a bad thing,” said Sanchez, noting some Chinese imports fulfill a need for competitively priced goods in Mexico.

In addition, he said, the CIIE serves to address exactly this type of trade imbalance, by making it easier for international companies to meet and greet Chinese importers, and showcase their products.

“We shouldn’t see the deficit the way (U.S. President) Donald Trump does, as a bad thing. We take advantage of the opportunity to trade with China to bring better-priced products. And hopefully Mexican business owners will see this (trade fair) as an opportunity to diversify trade more,” said Sanchez.

Mexico has been invited as a guest of honor at the CIIE and it is organizing its representation accordingly, with federal and state officials, as well as business-sector representatives comprising a delegation heading to Shanghai.

The fair is taking place just weeks before a new administration takes over the reins in Mexico when president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is sworn in on Dec. 1.

Lopez has noted he would strengthen ties with China, and the CIIE presents a perfect opportunity, said Mexican economist and China expert Enrique Dussel, who is a coordinator of the China-Mexico Studies Center at Mexico’s National Autonomous University (UNAM).

Dussel recommended Lopez send members of his future governing team to the fair to lay the groundwork for closer trade cooperation.

“Hopefully they will participate a month before they take office … to prepare as best they can, so as of Dec. 1 they are taking the steps needed to forge closer ties with China,” said Dussel.

About 80,000 Chinese and international companies have so far confirmed their participation in the event, which will include a trade forum attended by government leaders and representatives of international organizations.

Mexico and other Latin American countries are aware of the importance of attending the fair, said Mexican economist and twice ambassador to Beijing Eugenio Anguiano Roch.

China is a major importer, and “China’s economy demands a lot from the rest of the world,” said Roch, a research professor at the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE), a leading Mexican think tank.

TORONTO (AP) — Canada is back in a revamped North American free trade deal with the United States and Mexico after weeks of bitter, high-pressure negotiations that brushed up against a midnight deadline.

In a joint statement, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said the late Sunday agreement “will strengthen the middle class, and create good, well-paying jobs and new opportunities for the nearly half billion people who call North America home.”

The new deal, reached just before the midnight deadline imposed by the U.S., will be called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. It replaces the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, of NAFTA, which President Donald Trump had called a job-killing disaster.

Trump on Monday morning called it a “great deal,” tweeting that it “solves the many deficiencies and mistakes in NAFTA, greatly opens markets to our Farmers and Manufacturers, reduces Trade Barriers to the U.S. and will bring all three Great Nations together in competition with the rest of the world.”

He added: “Congratulations to Mexico and Canada!”

The agreement reached Sunday gives U.S. farmers greater access to the Canadian dairy market. But it keeps a NAFTA dispute-resolution process that the U.S. wanted to jettison and offers Canada protection if Trump goes ahead with plans to impose tariffs on cars, trucks and auto parts imported into the United States.

“It’s a good day for Canada,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said as he left his office.

Trudeau said he would have more to say Monday.

“We celebrate a trilateral deal. The door closes on trade fragmentation in the region,” Jesus Seade, trade negotiator for Mexico’s incoming president, said via Twitter.

Representatives for the government of Mexican president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called a press conference to discuss details of the trade deal on Monday.

The United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer plans to issue the text of a trade deal with just the U.S. and Mexico on Friday, two sources told CNBC, though the sources added that the release of the text could slip into the weekend. One source said that the text will allow Canada to join onto the agreement at a later date.

The Trump administration has been hurrying to meet a self-imposed Oct. 1 deadline to strike a new North American trade deal. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto will leave office at the end of November.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said Tuesday that he expects that to see the full text that will be sent to Congress, as opposed to an outline.

Lighthizer, in New York Tuesday, said that that the U.S. would “go ahead” with a deal with Mexico, but left open the possibility of including Canada. He noted that the administration was “sort of running out of time.”

“If Canada comes along now, that would be the best,” Lighthizer said. “If Canada comes along later, that’s what will happen.”

Lawmakers have raised concerns about a two-way trade deal, and some have said that only a three-way pact could be approved by the Senate with a simple majority.

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said that a bilateral agreement would require 60 votes, Reuters reported in August. In order to get the trade deal fast-tracked, “the administration must also reach an agreement with Canada,” Toomey said.

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said that a bilateral agreement would raise “serious” legal concerns.

Business groups have also argued against moving forward with a deal that excludes Canada.

“It would be unacceptable to sideline Canada, our largest export market in the world,” the heads of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable and the National Association of Manufacturers wrote in a letter sent to Lighthizer last week, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The biggest sticking points to reaching a deal with Canada continue to be over dairy trade rules and dispute settlement.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the Council on Foreign Relations on Tuesday that his focus has been “simply not escalating. Not opining. Not weighing in.”

“My job is very simple. It’s to defend Canada’s interests, stand up for Canadians,” Trudeau said.

MTVS Motor Company will soon begin operations in Mexico and it has partnered with a company called Torino Motors which is one of the biggest in the region and is a subsidiary company of the Groupo Autofin. Torino Motors specialises in automobile and retail finance and has been active in Mexico for over 40 years now. TVS and Torino Motors plan to open 40 exclusive stores in Mexico for distribution of TVS two-wheelers. TVS is one of the leading two-wheeler manufacturers and exports to over 60 countries from India.

Commenting on this association, R Dilip, Senior Vice President – International Business, TVS Motor Company, said, “We are delighted to partner with a reputed, well-known company such as Torino Motors, who come with over 40 years of experience in Mexico. We look forward to the market knowledge that they will bring on board. Their insights will allow us to personalise our offerings to suit the customers of Mexico and their vast network of distribution will ensure maximum reach in the country. Together with Torino Motors, we are determined to create customer delight in the country.”

TVS will be offering a slew of products in Mexico starting from XL100 HD, HLX 150 along with the Stryker as well. Additionally, TVS will also launch its entire Apache range of motorcycles which includes Apache RTR 160, Apache RTR 180 and the Apache RTR 200 along with the Apache RR 310. Coming to scooters, TVS will launch the Wego along with the NTorq 125 and its step through scooters, the Rockz and the Neo.

He is beginning to explain he won’t be able to achieve everything, suggests one business leader.

Business leaders have challenged president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s claim that Mexico is bankrupt.

Speaking Sunday at a rally in Tepic, Nayarit, to launch his so-called “Thank You Tour” following his landslide victory in the July 1 election, López Obrador said the current state of the nation’s finances could limit what his government can accomplish but pledged that no campaign promises would be broken.

“We’re going to honor our commitments and we’re not going to fail the people of Mexico. Possibly due to the circumstances, because the country is going through a very difficult economic and social situation, possibly due to the bankrupt situation the country finds itself in, we won’t be able to achieve everything that is being demanded but we are going to achieve, let it be clear, everything, everything that we proposed in the campaign,” he said.

The comment contrasts with the incoming president’s statement earlier this month that there is economic stability in the country.

Responding to the president-elect’s remarks, the president of the Business Coordinating Council (CCE) accepted that Mexico has to confront a range of challenges but rejected the bankruptcy label.

“We have enormous challenges: security, efficiency of spending, [the need] to invest in connectivity, [to develop] more talent, but the government has never stopped paying its international commitments and there is the possibility of growing at 4% if the right public policy is made. There are options to believe in a promising future,” Juan Pablo Castañón said.

Addressing the same business conference, the chairman of Kimberly-Clark de México, Claudio X. González, also contested the use of the word bankrupt.

“I don’t agree with the use of this adjective, but I do agree with the fact that we have to be realistic that he will not be able to do everything . . .” González added.

“What I think he’s trying to point out is that there are very difficult situations, without a doubt, security is one of them, impunity is another, the energy situation . . . is something that he has to act on immediately . . .”

The business leader declared that López Obrador has to find a balance between “pragmatism and preaching” in order to stimulate confidence, which in turn will encourage investment.

“The balance will be crucial because we won’t be able to build the investment we need without confidence — the most important word for investment. We need pragmatism to drive investment,” González said.

Gabriela Siller, head of economic analysis at financial group Banco Base, said that government debt in Mexico currently stands at 44% of gross domestic product (GDP), which she described as high, but she added that the country isn’t bankrupt because it has the capacity to meet its financial obligations.

She interpreted López Obrador’s remark as a nod to the fact that the incoming government — which will take office on December 1 — will have limited resources to play with and will therefore need to carefully prioritize its spending.

“If he wants to do new projects, he will have to make cuts to government expenditure in some areas in order to be able to increase in others.”

“Mexico is not bankrupt . . . I’m very optimistic, if you read everything that he [López Obrador] said in this very dramatic comment, he is beginning to explain that he won’t be able to achieve everything because there is not enough money to do everything, there are not enough resources or time,” he said.

WASHINGTON — Chrystia Freeland was not happy.

With trilateral NAFTA talks having been on hiatus for most of the summer, the foreign affairs minister was in Berlin, barely one full day into a week-long diplomatic mission to Europe, when news emerged that the United States and Mexico had forged their own trade alliance in Canada’s absence.

By Aug. 28, Freeland was back in Washington, hosting a meeting at the Canadian embassy, where sources say she gave members of the Mexican negotiating team a piece of her mind.

“She brought them in for that purpose,” said one source familiar with the encounter.

By all indications, things haven’t improved much.

Three-way talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo have not taken place since, and none are imminent. Freeland is spending Monday in Ottawa for the return of Parliament.

GUADALAJARA, Mexico–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sep 11, 2018–Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions and Toshiba America Business Solutions celebrated the opening of their collective 38,000-square-foot building in Guadalajara, Mexico, yesterday with a ribbon-cutting attended by government officials, representatives of academic institutions, media and clients. Toshiba has invested 2 million U.S. dollars to further modernize the company’s products and solutions development center. The move signals Toshiba’s increasing presence in Mexico’s technology hub.

Jalisco Economic Development Secretary, José Palacios Jiménez; Head of the Investment Promotion Unit of the Municipality of Zapopan, Alfredo Aceves Fernández; and Consul-General of the Consulate-General of Japan, Osamu Hokida joined Toshiba’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Scott Maccabe; Chief Operating Officer Gregg Margosian; Senior Vice President of Research and Development Mike Yeung as well as Vice President of Human Resources, and Administration James Fornabaio at the ribbon-cutting. The event also featured Toshiba clients Grupo Alsea, Costco and Kidzania.

“We were pleased to be joined by so many esteemed people today,” Maccabe stated. “Toshiba’s expansion in Mexico is a central element of our global growth strategy. Toshiba’s expert team in Guadalajara produces the products and services we offer worldwide and is instrumental to our company’s success.”

Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions is the global market share leader in installed retail point of sale technology. Many of the most successful retail brands around the world, from smaller regional retailers to 60 percent of the top 25 global retailers, choose Toshiba products and services. In Mexico, Grupo Alsea, Costco and Kidzania have definitively improved the shopping experience for their vast array of loyal customers by implementing our electronic point of sale technology.

“The investments in the state of Jalisco have multiplied importantly,” said Palacios Jiménez. “Toshiba is a Japanese company that has demonstrated its trust in the state, which is an honor. The state of Jalisco has received 11,500 million dollars in foreign direct investment, a historic data. It’s precisely because of the trust of companies in Jalisco. In 2017 Jalisco generated the largest number of employment of any state in the country, also a historic number, 93,000 jobs. Everything is for you, we must only facilitate your investment experience.”

“Toshiba is a company that has reiterated its commitment to Mexico by generating jobs and training its people, as well as committing to the care of the environment,” Hokida stated. “I am convinced that this extension will be of great benefit for the Bajío region. I would like to reiterate the gratitude to the Mexican government for its support of Japanese companies. Currently there are 633 Japanese persons living in the state of Jalisco. I would like to point out that feel great here thanks to the warmth of the people.”

Toshiba Mexico has increased its staff from 48 to 298 employees since beginning operations in the country in 2006. Toshiba’s Guadalajara operation has also undergone significant growth by expanding from 36 to 164 employees since that time.

Toshiba repurposed furniture, IT equipment, lighting and even carpeting at the company’s new location, demonstrating its continued commitment to maintaining a more sustainable planet.

About Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions

As the market share leader in retail store technology, Toshiba’s Brilliant Commerce ™, enables retailers to deliver engaged shopping experiences, gain actionable insights and provide frictionless checkout.

With a global team of dedicated business partners, we deliver innovative commerce solutions that transform checkout, provide seamless consumer interactions and optimize retail operations that are changing the retail landscape. To learn more, visit toshibacommerce.com or engage on Twitter @toshibagcs.

About Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc.

Toshiba America Business Solutions (TABS) provides multifunction printers, managed document services and digital signage for businesses of all sizes throughout the United States, Mexico, and Central and South America. The company’s award-winning e-STUDIO ™ copiers and printers provide quality performance with the security businesses require.

Complementing its hardware offering is a full suite of document workflow, capture and security services including Encompass ™, the company’s industry-acclaimed Managed Print Services program. Encompass enables clients to print less and optimize workflow while improving energy efficiency.

TABS’ Ellumina ™ digital signage offering includes all of the hardware, software and services needed to implement dynamic and interactive digital signage installations.

TABS provides content creation and management, displays, integration, installation and project management services as well as financing for solutions ranging from a single screen to the biggest arenas and stadiums. For additional information, please visit business.toshiba.com.

Washington DC: President Donald Trump threatened Friday to slap tariffs on all of the Chinese goods imported into the United States, ramping up the already tense trade relations with Beijing amid ongoing talks with Canada and the EU. His comments, which contradicted the more diplomatic remarks earlier Friday from his top economic adviser, sent the stock market plunging amid fears of the economic damage that could result from the multi-front trade war he pursues.

The United States already has punitive tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods in place and another $200 billion are “in the hopper” and “could take place very soon,” Trump said. But he told reporters traveling with him to Fargo, North Dakota that “behind that, there’s another $267 billion ready to go on short notice if I want.” That would cover virtually all the goods imported from the world’s second-largest economy.

“That totally changes the equation,” Trump said. White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow just hours before said talks with Beijing were continuing to try to defuse the conflict, and that he was hopeful that a solution could be found. And there have been more positive signs in talks with North American partners as well as with the European Union.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer held another day of meetings with Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland on a rewrite of the North American Free Trade Agreement, after reaching a deal last week with Mexico. However, Freeland left Washington without a deal in hand and the schedule for any future talks was uncertain.

Lighthizer is due to meet on Monday in Brussels with EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom to resolve the dispute ignited when Trump imposed steep duties on all steel and aluminum imports. And Freeland is due to attend a Liberal Party meeting on Wednesday and Thursday prior to the opening of Parliament.

– China a ‘bigger problem’ –

“China, right now, is a far bigger problem,” Trump said. “I’m being strong on China because I have to be.” The deadline for public comment on the next wave of punitive taxes on $200 billion of annual imports from China expired Thursday, so Trump could impose the tariffs immediately.

He previously had threatened to hit 100 percent of imports from China if the country failed to address US concerns over theft of US technology and barriers to American goods and investments. Trump has had Beijing in his crosshairs since he took office and has applied increasing pressure to try to convince it to change its policies, allow more US imports and reduce the $335-billion US trade deficit with China.

China so far has retaliated dollar-for-dollar with tariffs of its own on US goods but since it imports less than $200 billion in goods a year from the United States, it has run out of room to match the punitive measures. But businesses warn there are other ways China can strike back, through regulations and other administrative means, or even through sales of its large holdings of US Treasury debt.

The last effort at a negotiated solution came in late August with meetings between low-level officials, but nothing came of it. In Beijing, China’s Commerce Ministry said Thursday it was ready to retaliate.

“If the US dogmatically implements any new tariff measures against China, China will have to take the necessary countermeasures,” commerce spokesman Gao Feng told reporters. Those steps include slapping tariffs on $60 billion of US imports, Gao said.

– NAFTA talks 24/7 –

Trump said talks with Canada to revise the 25-year-old NAFTA were “moving along” but again called the agreement “one of the worst trade deals in history.” “Canada has been ripping us off for a long time. Now, they’ve got to treat us fairly,” he said, and again threatened to impose duties on cars produced in Canada.

Last week, Washington reached a new deal with Mexico and is pushing to sign a revamped NAFTA before December 1, when the next president takes over in Mexico City. Following meetings on Friday, Freeland told reporters the issues were “complicated” but that officials were working “really at this point 24/7.”

However, she seemed to have a different position than Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo on the relationship between the NAFTA talks and the US steel and aluminum tariffs. Guajardo said Thursday it would be “very strange” to sign a new NAFTA “when this trade war is pending.”

“So the idea would be to table a solution to these trade aggressions before signing,” Guajardo said at a conference in Mexico City. But Freeland said on Thursday the metals tariffs and NAFTA talks “are entirely separate” – although she again called them “unjustified and illegal.

“The NAFTA talks between Washington and Ottawa have been hung up over Canada’s insistence on retaining a dispute resolution mechanism in Chapter 19 and US objections over Ottawa’s tight controls over the dairy market.