WSJ – President Enrique Peña Nieto said Wednesday that the clock was starting on a remaking of NAFTA, with Mexico beginning a 90-day period to consult with its private sector and prepare a negotiating position, and expecting the U.S. to do the same.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mexico-expects-nafta-renegotiation-talks-to-begin-in-may-2017-02-01
MLB – The Caribbean Series began Wednesday in Culiacan with games between Cuba and the Dominican Republic during the afternoon, and a Mexico-Puerto Rico matchup in the nightcap.
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/214952330/cuba-mexico-open-caribbean-series-with-wins/
India Times – Mexico announced a 4.4 billion peso ($212 million) deal to assemble Chinese cars in Hidalgo on Wednesday. The deal between Mexico’s Giant Motors Latinoamerica and Chinese state-owned automaker JAC Motors envisions a plant in Ciudad Sahagun that will be producing two SUV models in the second half of this year.
WSJ – Wall or no wall, the nation’s entrepreneurs are moving on. Despite threats ranging from anti-immigrant politics to currency volatility to the rising threat of trade protectionism, the flowering Mexican startup scene has a fallback plan: the rise of homegrown venture capital.
By Ben Chapman / Independent
The European Union and Mexico will speed up negotiations to seal a free trade pact, as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to pull out of a deal with its Central American neighbor, hit the country with punitive border taxes and make it pay for a border wall.
The move has been triggered by a “worrying rise of protectionism around the world”, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, and the minister of economy of Mexico, Ildefonso Guajardo said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Side by side, as like-minded partners, we must now stand up for the idea of global, open cooperation,” the two said.
Reuters – U.S. food producers and shippers are trying to speed up exports to Mexico and line up alternative markets as concerns rise that this lucrative business could be at risk if clashes over trade and immigration between the Trump administration and Mexico City escalate. Mexico is expected to import about 4 percent of the U.S. corn crop in 2016/1 and buys 7.8 percent of U.S. pork production.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-mexico-agriculture-idUSKBN15F2FS
Washington Post – Arturo Sarukhan was Mexico’s ambassador to the U.S. from 2007 to 2013: Dangerously and sadly — particularly for someone such as myself who has spent a lifetime seeking to deepen and widen U.S.-Mexico ties — the relationship is today on a knife’s edge.
Bloomberg – Mexico’s growth slowed in the fourth quarter, dragged down by falling oil production, even before the full impact of President Donald Trump’s potential to hurt the economy was fully felt.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-31/mexico-s-economy-slows-from-fastest-expansion-in-three-years
RT – Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has accepted an apology offered by the Israeli President who made amends following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ‘wall’s a great idea’ tweet that caused a misunderstanding and a diplomatic spat between the two nations.
https://www.rt.com/news/375853-israel-mexico-wall-misunderstanding/
Business Insider – The tariff proposal, which the Trump administration walked back saying it was just one option being considered, could make goods from Mexico more expensive. That could pose a huge problem for restaurant chains like Chipotle that heavily rely on Mexican imports.
Mexico News Daily – One might say that a new tourist attraction in Mexico City, Corruptour, is fitting for a country that has dropped 28 places on an international corruption index. The latest iteration is a modified 1998 school bus donated by an American school that will tour the country’s capital, taking its 27 passengers past 10 of the most emblematic buildings and sites of alleged corruption in recent Mexican history.
http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/in-mexico-corruption-is-a-tourist-attraction/
Reuters – BBVA warned of a tougher business environment in Mexico this year while the Spanish bank’s largest market adapts to the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump. A 14 percent fall in the peso over the past year, on concerns Trump could rip up a free trade deal with his southern neighbor, contributed to a drop of nearly 30 percent in fourth-quarter profit at BBVA.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bbva-results-idUSKBN15G45Z
ESPNfc – Next week’s Mexico-Iceland exhibition in Las Vegas should prove to be highly significant for some overlooked and forgotten names. With World Cup qualifying, Confederations Cup and Gold Cup games set for this year, it presents an opportunity for some new players to shine.
Vancouver Sun – The number of lab-confirmed Zika cases among British Columbia residents has quadrupled in the last six months – from 11 to 47 – including three pregnant women. All of the cases occurred in people who travelled to places where Zika was endemic, mostly Mexico.
UPI – Mexico’s Secretariat of National Defense said it arrested two lieutenants who attempted to sell 11 AK-47s and three AR-15s to members of the Los Zetas Cartel for about $5,000.