President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Thursday (25) ruled out a possible Mexican exit from the North American trade treaty T-MEC, amid a dispute with the United States and Canada over the energy sector.

“There is no possibility,” the left-leaning president said, answering a question during his daily press conference about whether he was considering the possibility of withdrawing Mexico from the regional pact.

The governments of the United States and Canada raised a controversy against Mexico’s energy policy last July, following a reform promoted by López Obrador which limits foreign participation in the sector.

“There is a good relationship, of respect, every time I speak to (US) President Joe Biden, he repeats to me that he wants a relationship with Mexico on an equal footing, respecting our sovereignty” , he added.

López Obrador assured that, despite these differences, foreign investment has reached record levels in the country (around 23 billion dollars in the first half of 2022). “We need each other. The functioning of the American economy would be very difficult without Mexico’s participation,” he said.

On Tuesday, a first meeting was held virtually between the three parties, during which Mexico answered questions from the partners. This consultation phase can last 75 days and, if no agreement is reached, a special arbitration group will be convened.

López Obrador said the demands, mostly from the United States, are unwarranted and rejected foreign governments advising on Mexican laws.

The Mexican President has confirmed that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Mexico to participate in a high-level economic dialogue meeting, scheduled for September 11-12, and that at the request of the US diplomat, he could receive it .. to discuss the subject.

The United States and Canada view energy reform as favoring Mexico’s state-owned Federal Electricity Commission over private companies, which would violate T-MEC regulations.

The regulatory changes, which limit foreign and private participation in power generation, have also been criticized by companies in Spain, Italy and Canada.

López Obrador seeks to restore state control over energy production through parliamentary reforms, now limited to secondary laws because they failed to secure the votes needed to change the Constitution.

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© Agence France-Presse