“We are not going to give in because it is a matter of principles, it has to do with our sovereignty,” said López Obrador, who added that his government has not violated the T-MEC.
“There is no violation of the Treaty. We are not failing to comply with any commitment. We have taken care from the beginning of the government not to commit oil. That led us to stop the negotiation (to create the T-MEC) for almost two weeks,” he said.
AMLO added that the government of Enrique Peña Nieto had offered a special chapter of the trade agreement “delivering the oil”, but that Jesús Seade, current Mexican ambassador to China and an observer of the negotiations during the government transition, warned him about the negotiations .
The head of state said that the wording of the T-MEC establishes the direct recognition of the Mexican State over hydrocarbons.
Last Wednesday, the United States trade representative, Katherine Tai, reported that, under the TMEC, the US government requested consultations to settle disputes over Mexico’s energy policy.
The consultations are related to measures that undermine US energy companies in the US in favor of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), reported the United States Trade Office (USTR, for its acronym in English) in a statement.
In an interview with Expansión, the undersecretary of Foreign Trade, Luz María de la Mora, said that they are already working to defuse this conflict before it harms the investment climate in the country.
“In the Ministry of Economy we are responsible for defending the Mexican State and we are responsible for the implementation of the T-MEC. The dependency will fulfill its job of making the best defense for the national interest, ”he assured.
