katherine taitrade representative of the United States, warned the Mexican government that the electrical reformwhich this week is analyzed in commissions of the Chamber of Deputiesputs 10,000 million dollars of US investors at risk, according to a letter sent on March 31, addressed to the head of the Ministry of Economy, Tatiana Clouthier.
In the document, Tai reiterated the concerns of the US government and businessmen in the energy sector before the regulatory changes that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has promoted and insisted on the latent risk of violating aspects of the Trade Agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada (USMCA), as well as the impact on the environment.
“The United States government has long expressed serious concerns about a series of administrative, regulatory and legislative changes in Mexico’s energy policies that violate these fundamental obligations, including the 2021 changes to the Electricity Industry Law “, the US official wrote in the letter sent on the same date as the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerryand some businessmen met with President López Obrador to seek a consensus on the electricity reform.
The trade representative claimed that US companies that have invested in renewable energy in Mexican territory are facing “arbitrary treatment” and that their investments are at risk now more than ever.
“Unfortunately, while we have tried to be constructive with the Mexican government in addressing these concerns, there has been no change in policy in Mexico,” he insisted. katherine tai.
“In the spirit of camaraderie and the continued serious desire to strengthen our joint competitiveness, I want to inform you that I will consider all options available under the T-MEC to address these concerns,” said the US official and urged the Mexican government to suspend these “actions.” concerns and ensure that the rights of US investors and exporters are protected.
United States continues to increase pressure on the Mexican government for the electricity reform that seeks to reduce the participation of its companies in the sector and that is also rejected by Canada and the European Union.
In his meeting with President López Obrador last Thursday, March 31 at the National Palace, the presidential envoy for Climate of the United States government, John Kerryexpressed to the president the White House’s concern about the negative impact of legal changes in electricity.
After the meeting, López Obrador reiterated that his government does not intend to make changes to the constitutional reform initiative that proposes to exclude private investment from the electricity marketing market and prioritize the dispatch of electricity produced by the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), regardless of its cost and polluting emissions.
The president said he rejected a proposal from his US counterparts to allow a US working group to monitor that legal changes in electricity adhere to Mexico’s commitments under the T-MEC.
“Well, that, of course, we could not accept, neither from the United States, nor from Canada, nor from China, nor from Russia. And yes, there was an approach to maintain communication on the subject and for a group to participate, but they raised that, I remained silent, it was not accepted, “said López Obrador.
López Obrador calls on the opposition to support the electricity reform
Meanwhile, during his morning conference this Tuesday, President López Obrado called on opposition deputies from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the National Action Party (PAN) to break the voting discipline of their party formations. support electricity reform.
“I am confident that they will vote freely and will rebel. And I call for that, to rebel so that they are authentic popular representatives and not employees of created interest groups, that they are not traitors to the country,” López Obrador said. at the National Palace.
The legislative coalition goes for mexico -made up mainly of the PRI, PAN and PRD- announced on Monday that it will present a counterproposal to the electricity reform.
The president has criticized that, with their refusal to support the reform proposed by the Government, the PRI and the PAN “insinuated” support for “private companies”, although he has indicated that he is aware that some deputies from these groups do not they agree with the decision of their parties.
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