Strengthen production in North America to avoid Chinese dominance, advises the President

From the editorial

Newspaper La Jornada
Saturday December 24, 2022, p. 4

If productive activity in North America is not boosted, China will end up dominating the world market, which would bring about a trade imbalance and the risk of unleashing a war to maintain hegemony, stressed President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Villahermosa, Tabasco.

For this reason, he assured that during the next Summit of North American Leaders he will propose to both the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, an import substitution plan in order to produce what is consumed. in the same region and promote its development.

In his morning conference yesterday, which was held in this city, he stressed that thanks to the trade agreement between the three nations, foreign investment has grown in Mexico, while the United States they have been understanding that if productive activity in North America is not boosted, Asia, particularly China, will dominate the world market.

And this is not convenient because it is an imbalance. And in the case of Mexico, it is my position, it would be very risky, because this trade imbalance between Asia and America or with North America would seek to be overcome or resolved with the use of force, with warfare, and we do not want that, because that is war, it is forward instability, we prefer economic and commercial balance than war, than maintaining hegemonies with the use of force.

The president considered that North America, and even the entire continent, can compete fairly with Asia and substitute imports, since many products continue to be brought from that region, especially from China. There are already conditions that were not there before.

implement this plan it would mean increasing growth, more jobs, more well-being for our region; but at the same time extend the (commercial) treaty to the entire American continent. That is a proposal that we are going to make.

He insisted that he will also propose at the summit a welfare plan for the continent and the turn in the interventionist policies that the United States has historically applied towards the nations of America.