Former Ambassadors to Mexico Say Presidential Visit Missed Opportunity
The Mexico Institute asked whether it was a mistake for Mexico's president to visit President Donald Trump four months ahead of Election Day, particularly since Trump has been so hostile to Mexican immigrants.
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Mexican pollster Alejandro Moreno, who spoke on the July 8 webinar, said that celebrating USMCA makes political sense for Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, commonly known as “AMLO.” Moreno said 64% expect positive results from USMCA within a year.
But former U.S. ambassador to Mexico Roberta Jacobson said she thinks the visit is “a bit of a lost opportunity, especially with people questioning the relationship with China and the over-reliance on that country in supply chains.” Jacobson is concerned that foreign investors are hesitant to come to Mexico right now because of the new administration's policies.
She said that if AMLO thinks coming to Washington “is going to insulate him against future tariffs, some kind of punitive measure … he’s fooling himself.” She noted that there's discussion of levying aluminum tariffs against Canada now.
She also questioned the optics of AMLO coming to visit Trump without also visiting with Democratic leadership in the House, which was critical to getting USMCA passed. “Democrats were not invited to the [USMCA] signing ceremony. I don’t think it’s an accident this visit was planned when Congress was in recess,” she said. But even so, AMLO could have met with Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who lives in the Washington suburbs, in Maryland.
“The request was not made in part not to offend President Trump,” she said. “And I think that is very short-sighted.”
Former U.S. ambassador to Mexico Earl Anthony Wayne said, “Both presidents want the economies to start cranking up again,” but he wondered if there would be any coordination of supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of the visit. “That’s one area [in which] I hope there will be some practical good,” he said.