All posts by Diane

Trade

U.S. farm exports to Mexico drop amid Nafta uncertainty

Leave a comment
Mexico imports of soybean meal dropped 15%.
Mexico imports of soybean meal dropped 15%.

By Kinsey Grant / The Street

Mexican imports of U.S. soybean meal dropped 15 percent, chicken 11 percent and corn 6 percent in the first four months of 2017 amid friction between the two neighboring countries over NAFTA.

Soybean meal exports decreased for the first time in four years and chicken exports marked the biggest decline since 2003. Mexico is U.S. farmers’ largest export market for soybean meal, chicken and corn.

The decreasing figures illustrate Mexico’s move to reduce its reliance on the U.S. for commodities as President Trump looks to renegotiate NAFTA. This comes as U.S. farmers deal with low commodity prices and excess supply.

Raul Urteaga Trani, head of international affairs for Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture, led a group of Mexican business leaders to South America to explore trade of soybeans, corn and wheat.

“We have to send a signal to policymakers in Washington, and emphasize that we are not sitting still,” Trani said.

https://www.thestreet.com/story/14182450/1/u-s-exports-to-mexico-drop-on-nafta-uncertainty.html

Tourism

Top inclusive resorts in Mexico, Caribbean

Leave a comment

CNN – If there’s one thing better than guaranteed sunshine and blue skies on your next vacation, it’s the knowledge that there will be no nasty surprises come check-out time. All-inclusive vacations mean that one price fits all, covering almost everything, save those optional extras or upgrades. Mexico and the Caribbean boast countless options to kick back and relax, so here are some of the best options when it comes to staying in style — but also on budget.

http://www.cnn.com/travel/article/mexico-and-caribbean-all-inclusive-resorts/index.html

Trade

U.S. sugar industry approves deal with Mexico

Leave a comment

The Hill – The U.S. sugar industry has announced support for a tweaked trade deal with Mexico after initially opposing the long-awaited agreement. The American Sugar Alliance, which represents sugar farmers and producers, told the Commerce Department that it will back the “tightened” deal aimed at bringing Mexico’s sugar industry into compliance with U.S. law.

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/338041-us-sugar-industry-announces-support-for-trade-deal-with-mexico

Sports

FIFA might stop game if fans use “puto”

Leave a comment

Remezcla – As if FIFA and the Mexican fanbase weren’t at odds already, the Confederations Cup might be the tipping towards unadulterated animosity. Reports this week confirm that the tournament, held in Russia, will play host to a new FIFA three-step program towards shutting down homophobic and offensive chants, a category the infamous “puto” falls into for the world soccer organization.

http://remezcla.com/sports/fifa-mexico-puto-chant/

Companies

Blanca Trevino is Mexican IT giant

Leave a comment

CNBC – If you think the glass ceiling for women in tech is tough in the United States, take a look at the challenges they face in Mexico, Latin America and other developing countries. For many the obstacles may seem insurmountable, but not for Blanca Trevino, the co-founder, president and CEO of Softtek, a Mexican unicorn that is the largest IT vendor in Latin America.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/13/how-the-sheryl-sandberg-of-mexico-is-inspiring-women-in-tech.html

Agriculture

Mexico native crops hold key to food security

Leave a comment

VOA – Mexico’s ancient civilizations cultivated crops such as maize, tomatoes and chilies for thousands of years before the Spanish conquerors arrived — and now those native plants could hold the key to sustainable food production as climate change bites, said leading ecologist José Sarukhán Kermez.

https://www.voanews.com/a/mexico-native-crops-hold-key-to-food-security-ecologist-says/3899641.html

Sports

Chicharito must score well in Confederations Cup

Leave a comment

Goal – While Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez will go down as one of his country’s greats because of his success not only with the national team but also at the club level with Manchester United, Real Madrid and now Bayer Leverkusen, his legacy is not sealed. The striker has plenty of important goals among the 47 he has netted for El Tri, but Chicharito has struggled to find the net when they’ve needed him most, leaving the responsibility of scoring in big matches to other players.

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1616/concacaf/2017/06/16/36408332/chicharito-needs-strong-confederations-cup-to-erase-his

Diplomacy

Leaders of Mexico, Germany to meet in “solidarity” against Trump

Leave a comment
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto shake hands after talks in Berlin in 2016. (Tobias Schwarz / AFP/Getty Images)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto shake hands after talks in Berlin in 2016. (Tobias Schwarz / AFP/Getty Images)

By Kate Linthicum / Los Angeles Times

In what her government has called “a sign of solidarity,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto today, Friday.

High on the agenda during her two-day state visit to Mexico will be their mutual political dilemma: President Trump.

From the launch of his presidential campaign two years ago through his early days in the White House, Trump made Mexico his punching bag. He called Mexican immigrants criminals, pledged to tax imports from Mexico and insisted that Mexico would pay for construction of a border wall.

But in recent months, he has extended his ire to a much wider circle of nations, many of which, like Mexico, are longtime U.S. allies.

That includes Germany, which the president has criticized for its trade surplus with the U.S., for resettling large numbers of Syrian migrants and for not spending enough on defense to meet its commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Europe “can no longer rely” on its longtime friend the United States, Merkel said at an election rally in Munich saying people on the continent must “take our fate into our own hands.”

Merkel appears poised to do that on her visit to Mexico, where she and Peña Nieto will discuss trade and how to move forward on combating climate change after Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement.

http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-mexico-merkel-20170608-story.html

Diplomacy

Vicente Fox delivers harsh missive to Trump

Leave a comment

SBS – After catalysing one of the more poignant viral hashtags at the beginning of this year, Vicente Fox has returned to deliver a message to the President of the United States amid the noise surrounding James Comey’s testimony. “Mexico will not pay for the f—– wall,” Fox opens the video, shared on social channel Super Deluxe.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/06/09/stupid-useless-racist-former-president-mexicos-message-donald-trump

Politics

AMLO emerges as potent political challenger

Leave a comment

The Economist -I n the State of Mexico, which contains 13% of the national electorate and was once governed by President Enrique Peña Nieto, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s candidate, Delfina Gómez, gained 31% of the vote. The PRI won, with 34%, in a state it had never lost, but its vote was down by 28 percentage points compared with the last election in 2011. It clung on, according to its opponents and some analysts, only by large-scale vote-buying. López Obrador has thus reminded Mexicans that he remains a uniquely potent challenger.

http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21723172-next-years-presidential-election-will-once-again-pit-amlo-against-tactical-voting-bogeyman