President Claudia Sheinbaum returned to Mexico City from São Paulo, Brazil, on a commercial flight on Tuesday after attending the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.
At the top of her morning press conference on Wednesday – her first since last Friday – Sheinbaum noted that her mañanera would be brief as Wednesday is Mexican Revolution Day and she needed to head out to participate in a military ceremony and parade.
During her engagement with reporters, she fielded questions on her attendance at the G20 summit, where she also held individual meetings with the leaders of various countries including the United States, Canada and China.
Sheinbaum: Trudeau wants USMCA to continue
Sheinbaum told reporters that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “doesn’t agree” with calls from the premiers of the provinces of Ontario and Alberta for Canada to consider making a bilateral free trade agreement with the United States rather than seeking an extension of the existing USMCA free trade treaty, which includes Mexico.
Doug Ford of Ontario and Danielle Smith of Alberta are concerned about Mexico’s trade and investment relationship with China and its alleged transshipment of Chinese goods to other parts of North America.
Sheinbaum said that Trudeau “agrees with maintaining the [free trade] agreement between the three countries and strengthening relations.”
Sitting alongside Sheinbaum in Rio, Trudeau told reporters that there are “a lot of opportunities” for Canada and Mexico “to continue to work together very closely.”
During a press conference on Tuesday, the prime minister said that he had “a good and frank conversation with the president of Mexico,” during which he “highlighted some of the concerns that have been expressed publicly by a number of people around some of the investments in Mexico.”
“But I also know that Mexico is dedicated to continuing in this extraordinarily successful trade deal, and I think the Mexican administration is looking at ways of either adjusting or sharing why people shouldn’t be worried about these investments,” Trudeau said.
“… I shared as a partner and friend that there are concerns, but I look forward to lots of discussions over the coming year before we approach the [USMCA] review in 2026,” he said.
United States President-elect Donald Trump said last month that he wants to renegotiate the USMCA, which superseded NAFTA in 2020.
Despite USMCA, ‘room’ for a relationship with China
About her meeting with Xi Jinping, Sheinbaum said that she spoke to the Chinese president about Mexico’s relationship with China.
“I told him directly that we have a trade agreement with North America, but that there was room for a relationship with China, which was very important,” she said.
Chinese imports to and investment in Mexico have increased in recent years, raising concerns among some U.S. and Canadian officials, as well as President-elect Trump.
* Click here to read Mexico News Daily’s latest story on Chinese investment in Mexico.
Welfare programs a priority in the 2025 budget
“The objective of the [2025] budget … is to continue investing, guaranteeing all the welfare programs,” Sheinbaum said.
“… The Welfare Ministry has a budget of about 550 billion pesos, but in reality, all the welfare programs together have a budget of more than 700 billion pesos,” the president said, noting that funds have been allocated for three new programs, including one that provides financial support to women aged 60-64 and an educational scholarship scheme.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
