Mexican Minister considers trade relations with US 'greatest challenge'

Mexico City (ANTARA) - Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard has stated that the new trade relationship with the United States (US) presents the “greatest challenge” of this century for his country.

“We have never faced a challenge of this scale and complexity with the US,” Ebrard said during a meeting of the ruling party, National Regeneration Movement (Morena), at the Mexican Chamber of Deputies on Sunday (30/8) local time.

Ebrante noted that the global economy is undergoing a major shift from a free-trade-based system to one increasingly shaped by principles of protectionism, aimed at bringing manufacturing activities back to the US.

According to Ebrard, due to these new changes, the location where a product is manufactured is becoming increasingly important, whereas price and quality—particularly price—were previously considered more significant.

In this context, Mexico is striving to maintain access to the US market and preserve one of the lowest effective tariff levels in the world, he added.

Ebrard stated that Mexican exports, including electronics, computing equipment, and products related to the surge in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the US, are expected to increase sharply between 2025 and 2026.

The Mexican government estimates that the nation’s economy will grow between 1.8 per cent and 2.8 per cent this year.

Mexico’s economy, the second largest in Latin America after Brazil, grew by 0.5 per cent in 2025, primarily driven by the services sector amidst weak industrial activity related to the US.