The United Kingdom is interested in exporting services, meat and dairy products to Mexico as a result of a Free Trade Agreement between the two, whose formal start of negotiations began in London this Friday.
From the perspective of the British government, Mexico is a growth market of “geostrategic importance”. According to their forecasts, Mexico’s import demand would grow 35% between 2019 and 2035 (at 2019 prices and exchange rates) as the Mexican economy expands.
“The negotiations will allow us to agree an updated deal that brings new benefits to the world’s leading UK services companies and push to reduce tariffs on UK meat and dairy exports, while simplifying trade deals. for UK companies that want to export to Mexico”, projected the British Department of International Trade (DIT, for its acronym in English) in a report.
The British government is seeking to secure a deal that improves the bilateral trade relationship and gives the UK access to a market that “promises both short-term and long-term benefits.”
In 2020, with the most recent statistics available, this European nation had the second position among the largest exporters of commercial services in the world, registering 342,000 million dollars, behind the United States and only 1,128 million directed to Mexico.
As for merchandise, the United Kingdom exported to the world meat for a value of 2,234 million dollars and dairy products for 2,025 million dollars in 2021, without trade with Mexico in both cases.
The Secretary of State for International Trade, to which the DIT belongs, is clear that any agreement will have to maintain high environmental, labor, public health, food safety and animal welfare standards.
The DIT has also made it clear that when it is negotiating trade deals, it will protect the NHS, at the same time that UK trade deals must work for consumers, producers and businesses alike.
Regarding the FTA, Tatiana Clouthier, Secretary of the Economy of Mexico, reported that the first round of negotiations will begin on July 11 in Mexico City.
For her part, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Minister of Commerce of the United Kingdom, indicated that they seek to conclude the negotiations before the end of 2022. Both officials participated last Friday in an event to announce the formal start of the negotiations of this bilateral treaty. in London, in which business representatives from both countries participated.
Clouthier commented there: “This FTA is the opportunity to build an agreement for the economy of the 21st century, since it is related not only to trade in goods and services, but also to digital trade, cross-border data flows, trade electronic technology, regulatory cooperation and innovation, to name a few”. He also specified that provisions on issues related to gender and SMEs would be included.
In a joint statement, the two governments reaffirmed that Mexico and the United Kingdom will work together to take their trade and economic relationship “to the next level.”