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
The governments of Mexico and five Central American countries signed in El Salvador a free trade agreement (FTA) that unifies the existing ties in one body.
Mexico’s agriculture and fishing industries called on the Senate Monday to hold off on ratifying the free trade agreement with Peru until a better deal can be negotiated.
Mexico said Sunday the fifth round of negotiations for forming a single free trade agreement (FTA) with Central America ended with important progress on various issues.
Peru and Mexico on Wednesday here signed a trade agreement with the aim of jointly reaching out to Asia, an undertaking that they want Chile and Colombia to join.
Mexico is close to ratifying an expanded free-trade deal with Colombia after three Senate committees gave the green light for the agreement, while progress is also being made in negotiations on a separate free-trade accord with Peru, Economy Secretary Bruno Ferrari said.
One of Mexico’s opposition parties, the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), has vowed to vote against a potential free trade agreement (FTA) with Peru, Colombia and Brazil on the grounds of food sovereignty, national public health, as well as food and plant sanitation.
The governments of Mexico and Brazil will begin formal negotiations on Feb. 28 to reach a free-trade agreement, newspaper Reforma reported.
Brazil and Mexico said on Monday they would start talks toward a bilateral trade deal in a bid to draw Latin America’s top two economies closer together.
After concluding an Economic Partnership Agreement with Japan, Mexico halted new FTA negotiations in light of pressure from private sector representatives and sensitive domestic industries, notably agriculture, who oppose ongoing trade negotiations with Brazil and South Korea.
The second round of negotiations for a single Mexico-Central America Free Trade Agreement – as opposed to the series of agreements now in force – began Monday in El Salvador.
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México: Comercio exterior y TLC
Official government website on Mexico’s FTAs (in Spanish)
