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Security, trade to top agenda of Obama's visit to Mexico
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-16 16:22 MEXICO CITY-- The first visit by US President Barack Obama to Mexico looks set to be dominated by issues such as drugs and arms trafficking, but trade dispute between the two countries could also be a focal point, analysts said on Wednesday.
Mexico has brought the issue of guns smuggling to the top of the bilateral agenda ahead of Obama's visit on Thursday and Friday, they added. CHANGE OF VIEW
According to the United Nation's Office on Drugs and Crime, the United States is the biggest drug consumer in the region, with 3 percent of adults using cocaine compared with just 0.8 percent in Mexico. Some 0.6 percent of American adults use heroin compared with 0.1 percent in Mexico and 12.2 percent of Americans use marijuana compared with 3.1 percent in Mexico. Professor Tomas Milton, also at the UNAM, said that he believes the two countries would announce a new plan on combating weapons smuggling and money-laundering during the visit. "That deal would be the corollary to at least four weeks of rapprochement by the two nations' security officials," said Milton. "It is very likely that there will be some sort of announcement because the officials have done their homework," he added. The United States has ordered the check of illegal weapons along the shared border of the two countries, and Obama has said that the United States must take responsibility for drug consumption. TROUBLE WITH TRADE Trade is also high on the agenda. In March, Mexico raised tariffs on US$2.4-billion of US export in retaliation for the US ending of a pilot program to allow Mexican trucks on American roads. Mexican trucks were supposed to have been allowed on American highways under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, but only got a partial go-ahead in 2007 with only a limited number of trucks being allowed to run on the US territory. Analysts believed that dealing with this issue could mean a reopening of some NAFTA chapters. "It is a real possibility," said Santana. "Transport could be reopened, but migratory reform would not be included," he added. However, signals from the United States appeared to discourage such ideas. At the start of the month, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk told media that his office would be actively prosecuting nations that reneged on trade treaty obligations at the World Trade Organization. He placed Mexico on a list of 13 nations that could face the treatment due to its restrictions on foreign ownership of telecommunications assets and monopolistic practices. Milton argued that the issue is one that would blow over. "This episode will most possibly be resolved once the program is restarted, most probably with new terms and conditions," Milton said. As it was ended by the US Congress, not the Obama administration directly, for funding reasons, the US president has some wiggle room on the issue, he added. "It could be resolved during this visit." CRISIS vs. OPPORTUNITY According to Luis de la Calle, managing director and founding partner of consultancy De la Calle, Madrazoy Mancera, the visit will provide a tremendous opportunity for Mexico to help US export overcome the current global crisis. "Mexico could take advantage of the crisis to become an exporter to Asia," he told an academic conference on Wednesday. De la Calle said that the US long-entrenched current account deficit could not be fixed until the nation begins to export, which represents an opportunity for Mexico. "The United States cannot produce cars efficiently any longer, but we can." He added it would be better for the United States to start exporting to Mexico in order to buy finished goods from the country and reexport them to Asia. |
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