MEXICO CITY, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Friday he expects Mexico to reach trade understandings with the United States that are “similar in many aspects” to those being discussed between Washington and Ottawa, adding that Mexico does not see Canada’s parallel negotiations as a competitive process.
He said Mexico is pursuing its own track with the United States and would need to see the final published terms of any U.S.-Canada arrangement before making a full assessment.
Ebrard’s comments come as the United States and Canada scramble to finalize a tentative deal that led President Donald Trump earlier this week to pause planned 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian goods.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the two sides had made “substantial progress,” while cautioning that important work remained.
The U.S.-Canada negotiations are focused on avoiding the new Section 338 tariffs and resolving a set of bilateral trade disputes, including U.S. complaints about Canada’s dairy quota system, provincial restrictions on U.S. alcohol sales and retaliatory Canadian duties on some U.S.-built autos and steel.
Negotiators are also trying to bridge differences over possible cuts to U.S. auto tariffs.
Those talks are separate from, but politically intertwined with, the broader 2026 review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
In July, the Trump administration declined to extend the pact for a fresh 16-year term, triggering a process of annual reviews while the agreement remains in force through 2036 unless the three countries later agree to extend it.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has said he hopes to secure interim arrangements with both Mexico and Canada this year, leaving more difficult issues such as automotive rules of origin, labor and environmental standards for 2027.
Mexico has described recent talks with Washington as constructive, pointing to progress on steel, aluminum and efforts to replace Asian imports with more North American production.
(Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez; Writing by Kylie Madry, Editing by Natalia Siniawski)
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