Mexico
January 2004 saw the entry into force of NAFTA, the free-trade agreement with the US and Canada. This agreement set the pattern for the US imposition of FTAs elsewhere. It contains basic elements that would be repeated in many subsequent FTAs. By the same token, its adoption kickstarted the civil society movement of resistance to FTAs that has been gathering strength for the last 15 years.
In addition to NAFTA, Mexico has signed the following FTAs:
Bolivia (1994) Costa Rica (1994) Group of Three (Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela (1994); Venezuela pulled out in November 2006; in March 2011, the Mexican Congress agreed to extend the Colombian FTA to agriculture) Nicaragua (1997) Chile (1998) EU (1999) EFTA (2000) Israel (2000) Northern Triangle (Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, 2000) Uruguay (2003) Japan (2005) Central America (2011, unifying all previous FTAs with the different countries) Peru (ratified by the Mexican Congress in December 2011)
The government is currently in FTA discussions with Panama, Singapore, South Korea, New Zealand, the Dominican Republic, Brazil and others.
Mexico’s FTAs with Colombia, Peru and Brazil have been the focus of intense resistance from the farming and fishing sectors.
last update: May 2012
Delegations from the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) states and Mexico met recently for a second round of negotiations on a comprehensive review of their bilateral free trade agreement.
Mexico would like to reach a free trade agreement with Argentina to rapidly increase the bilateral trade worth $2.5 billion annually, Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said.
The EU and Mexico launch negotiations for a ‘modernised’ Free Trade Agreement. A key feature is the investment protection chapter which grants major multinational companies in Mexico and the EU the exclusive right to challenge democratic decisions.
The EU and Mexico will kick off its first negotiation round for overhauling their bilateral trade agreement, talks that will include the EU’s new Investment Court System (ICS).
EU member states are expected to give the green light to negotiations to upgrade a fifteen-year-old free trade agreement between the EU and Mexico.
Mexican President backed a planned free trade deal between the European Union and the United States known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), saying his country could also adopt it.
The document, signed by the parties, establishes the terms for the negotiations to update and expand the FTA between Mexico and the EFTA.
In early May, the Brussels think tank CEPS and the Spanish bank BBVA organised a meeting between high-level representatives from the EU and Mexico aiming to review the EU-Mexico trade relationship
The European Union and Mexico will launch negotiations towards a new free-trade agreement later this year, as Europe seeks to tie its economy closer to North America following a deal with Canada and efforts to sign an accord with the United States.
The European Union and Mexico announced the joint intention to upgrade the EU-Mexico Free Trade Agreement.
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México: Comercio exterior y TLC
Official government website on Mexico’s FTAs (in Spanish)
