Press Releases
Arrington, Barrasso Lead Bipartisan, Bicameral Letter to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Mexico Undermining USMCA Energy Commitments
Washington,
July 20, 2023
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Jodey Arrington (R-TX), along with a bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai regarding the Government of Mexico’s pursuit of discriminatory policies that favor Mexican state-run energy companies and directly undermine United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) commitments. The letter demands Representative Tai swiftly establish a USMCA dispute settlement panel to address Mexico’s discriminatory policies across the energy sector. “The USMCA agreement was negotiated in good faith to ensure freer markets, fairer trade, and robust economic growth in North America. Mexico’s actions in undermining American energy companies betray the historical bipartisan trade agreement,” said Rep. Arrington. “The energy producers in the food, fuel, fiber capital of the world are relying on the administration to settle this dispute, continue the commitment to fair trade made in USMCA, and ensure all parties are upholding their part of the deal.” Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) said, “The United States has given Mexico more than enough time to rein in its discriminatory actions toward American energy producers. Seventy-five days of consultations under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement have stretched on for nearly a year with little meaningful progress. It’s time to convene a dispute resolution panel and put an end to these unfair practices once and for all.” “We must hold our trading partners to their commitments. Unfortunately, the Biden administration has taken a back seat on trade – which countries like Mexico are all too eager to take advantage of, implementing discriminatory policies that violate USMCA on everything from biotech corn to energy production. I thank Chairman Arrington for his leadership and will continue to push the administration to take a more proactive and aggressive stance on trade – both in enforcing existing agreements and pursuing new trade relationships,” said Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE) The American Petroleum Institute said, “Mexico’s escalating pursuit of discriminatory policies that favor state-run energy companies violate the country’s commitments under USCMA and directly threaten the prosperity of U.S. companies and their workers. The US has given Mexico several opportunities to fix its problematic policies, including last year's consultations request, but Mexico has made little effort to fix them. We welcome the efforts of trade leaders in both the House and Senate to address these alarming polices and support their request for the establishment of a dispute resolution panel.” “On behalf of America’s clean-energy industry, we remain committed to the use of the USMCA’s enforcement provision to address Mexico’s ongoing violations of USMCA. In signing that agreement, the Mexican government committed not to discriminate in favor of its state-run energy companies and to treat US investments, including those in the clean energy sector, no less favorably than domestic parties engaged in energy generation. The US has repeatedly provided Mexico with evidence of its USMCA violations and provided time for Mexico to correct them. Unfortunately, nothing has changed. As a result, we agree with trade leaders in Congress who are calling for the next step in the dispute settlement process with the convening of a USMCA panel,” said the American Clean Power Association. Background:
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