The letter has been sent a few weeks after the president sent to Congress the reform initiative that aims to reverse practically all the opening to the market that occurred with the 2013 reform promoted by former president Enrique Peña Nieto and in a context in the one that the Mexican government has decided to reinforce its efforts to monitor fuel imports, in order to reduce the amount of gasoline that enters the country under other tariff lines.
The claims contained in the agreement had already been made known by the US congressmen in previous documents, but so far the government of Democrat Joe Biden has not commented on the matter, and has prioritized other issues on its bilateral agenda with Mexico. like the migratory crisis and the labor reform.
“President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has explicitly made known his goal of providing the two national energy companies, Pemex and CFE with preferential treatment, in direct contradiction to the T-MEC, which his own administration negotiated and signed” , reproaches the document.
The trade agreement establishes that no company may receive discriminatory treatment and that national companies may not be favored. But the federal administration has pushed through a series of changes to return the two state-owned companies to the center of the market, which could lead to a series of international arbitrations, according to lawyers in the sector.
Ambassador Ken Salazar wrote on his Twitter account that he held meetings with representatives of the Mexican government to discuss the president’s reform initiative, but did not elaborate. “I expressed serious concerns from the United States. We pledged to continue the dialogue on this critical issue in the coming days,” he said on his social network.
I had important meetings today with @GovernmentMX to talk about energy reform. I want to learn more about the momentum of this constitutional reform. I expressed serious concerns about #USA. We pledged to continue the dialogue on this critical issue in the coming days.
– Ambassador Ken Salazar (@USAmbMex)
November 3, 2021
The letter, dated November 3, is in addition to at least three letters previously sent by US legislators and organizations, representatives of Canada and ambassadors of the European Union.
Sector specialists have said that the approval of the reform would unleash a series of international arbitrations against the Mexican State, which would be added to the processes that are already open against Mexico and that represent claims for around 1,500 million dollars.