Let the detectives find the letter Joe Biden wrote to AMLO. Let’s read our best political columnists so that they can explain to us how this rare act of American rectification by the president of Mexico is lived in Las Mañaneras and behind closed doors. Let’s ask the DJs to help us guess which song the president will choose after delighting us with Chicoché. I put my chips for I wanna hold your hand or I give you a song.
I want to talk about the obvious, Mexico is facing the best economic opportunity in many years: it can strengthen its role as a key partner of the United States at a time when Uncle Sam is redefining its production processes, in addition to its economic and geopolitical relationship with the world. Near-shoring or Friend-shoring. Taking advantage of this opportunity could mean more investment and employment in Mexico, more opportunities for regional development and, perhaps, the end of three decades of mediocre economic growth.
We are talking about something that transcends the T-MEC. What the United States described in the context of the High-Level Economic Dialogue is a proposal for the co-production of strategic goods and products in the North American region, argues Pedro Casas Alatriste, director of Research and Policy at the US Mexico Foundation. In the route that began with NAFTA, the aim was to promote free trade in a globalized world. Now we see something that aims to reinforce value chains in North America, but puts locks to limit the participation of other countries that are outside the region, says Casas Alatriste: “It is a new way of seeing the North American region, in a certain sense, more separated from the world, but more integrated into the interior”.
The United States’ strategy is much clearer in the two laws recently approved by the Capitol: the Anti Inflation Act and the Chips and Science Act. The first of these includes a budget of 369,000 million dollars to promote the development of clean energy in North America. There is room for the stimuli for the production of electric vehicles in the United States, but also in Canada and Mexico. At stake is the definition of the map of the North American automotive industry and there is a real opportunity to increase our current position in a future of electromobility.
The law to boost the production of chips or semiconductors is an attempt to correct a US vulnerability: 80% of the world’s chip production occurs in Asia, mainly in Taiwan and South Korea. The Chips and Science Act wants semiconductors to be produced in North America and that opens a door for Mexico. Establishes a fund of 52.7 billion dollars for the development of manufacturing capabilities; research and development and human capital. Added to this are 11 billion dollars for advanced research and 2 billion more for the development of semiconductors with military applications.
Mexico can participate in these programs that add up to almost 450,000 million dollars. You have no guarantees because you are not being given a winning lottery ticket. We will have to make an effort to benefit from this cataract of resources. A part of the multimillion-dollar funds for clean energy can reach Mexico, as long as Mexico gets its act together in the development of key infrastructure and in its own energy transition. Ambassador Ken Salazar told me yesterday in an interview: “President López Obrador enthusiastically described the solar energy plan for Sonora to us, that is very good, but why stay only in Sonora… almost the entire territory of Mexico could serve to produce wind or solar energy.
The energy factor counts a lot and will count more in this idea of the future of North America. Anthony Blinken’s visit does not resolve the controversy over Mexico’s decision to privilege Pemex and CFE. The positive climate at the High-Level Economic Dialogue meeting is not enough to unlock private sector investments in the energy sector that are stuck.
The reconciliation messages go a long way, but they do not remove all the explosives that are under the surface in what has remained a minefield. The United States is determined to strengthen the geopolitical dimension of its economic policy and trade relations. Do you remember the prohibition in the T-MEC for Mexico to make a free trade agreement with China? In the Anti Inflation Act and the Chips Act there is another twist. electric cars need minerals such as nickel, lithium, cobalt, as well as rare earths. The laws he recently passed prohibit these minerals from coming from countries like Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.
Interesting times and great opportunities are coming. These are also times to read the fine print and learn from the Yankee proverb: There’s no free lunch.
lmgonzalez@eleconomista.com.mx
[ad_2]
hartford car insurance shop car insurance best car insurance quotes best online car insurance get auto insurance quotes auto insurance quotes most affordable car insurance car insurance providers car insurance best deals best insurance quotes get car insurance online best comprehensive car insurance best cheap auto insurance auto policy switching car insurance car insurance quotes auto insurance best affordable car insurance online auto insurance quotes az auto insurance commercial auto insurance instant car insurance buy car insurance online best auto insurance companies best car insurance policy best auto insurance vehicle insurance quotes aaa insurance quote auto and home insurance quotes car insurance search best and cheapest car insurance best price car insurance best vehicle insurance aaa car insurance quote find cheap car insurance new car insurance quote auto insurance companies get car insurance quotes best cheap car insurance car insurance policy online new car insurance policy get car insurance car insurance company best cheap insurance car insurance online quote car insurance finder comprehensive insurance quote car insurance quotes near me get insurance