00:00This afternoon, Canada's top diplomat will deliver her address to the United Nations General Assembly.
00:04While Canada has been the focus of President Trump's ire as of late,
00:07he has praised his relationship with Mexico and its new president when it comes to immigration and drug enforcement.
00:13I spoke with Mexico's foreign minister just before his UN address on Friday.
00:18How do you assess the state of the US-Mexico relationship right now?
00:21Well, we have a relation that has a lot of dialogue.
00:26We have a relation with deep cooperation in many different areas, including security,
00:32based on what we view as core principles like respect to our sovereignty and territorial integrity.
00:39But taking all of that, I think it's overall a good relation, a strong relation.
00:44No doubt you heard the president of the United States speaking here.
00:47He talked about Mexico as the epicenter of cartel violence.
00:50He said it was unacceptable that the US could have a 2,000-mile border with a country that is,
00:54in his estimation,
00:54controlled by cartels.
00:57How do you respond to that?
00:58Well, what I can tell you is that in the past two years, the homicide rate in Mexico has halved.
01:04There's a 51 percent reduction in homicides in Mexico.
01:08Most crimes are also in a downward trajectory.
01:12There's a lot of progress, given the new government security strategy,
01:17that includes a new focus on intelligence and investigations.
01:23There's also, as I said, cooperation with the United States based on these four principles
01:28that will also include what we call cooperation without subordination.
01:35Is there total alignment with the US when it comes to its approach to violence in the region,
01:40or do you differ with the US in some way?
01:42No, I think the US has a different approach with other countries.
01:47We have our own approach to cooperation.
01:51As I said, these principles for us are fundamental.
01:54They are in our constitution.
01:56We have to respect our legal framework.
01:59But with that considered, I think we have good work.
02:03We have good progress, and we have good achievements.
02:06I mean, if you look at, for example, the numbers at the border, there's a 60 percent reduction
02:12in the fentanyl that is reaching the border.
02:14The White House has recognized that.
02:17There's also a historic reduction in the figures of irregular migration that we have seen in the border
02:26in the past couple of years.
02:27So I think we are in a different situation from where we were before.
02:32We've seen other countries enter into joint military operations with the US.
02:35It seems that's a red line for you.
02:37Is that something that you wouldn't consider?
02:38Well, for Mexico, as I said, there has to be respect for our territorial integrity,
02:44for our sovereignty.
02:45And that entails that operations in Mexico only correspond to Mexican authorities.
02:51We've seen the deportation of more than 200,000 Mexicans during the start of the president's second term.
02:58What's the impact of that been on your country, having that influx of Mexicans' return?
03:02Well, we have a strategy to receive our citizens when they are returned from the United States.
03:08It's called Mexico Te Abraza.
03:10And we provide access to social programs.
03:13We provide basic resources so they can reintegrate to Mexico and they can get jobs.
03:20They can get access to health care.
03:22And so far, I think we've been successful in receiving our Mexican fellows, you know,
03:30as what they are, part of our country.
03:32There are the Mexican fellows, as you put it.
03:33There are also these third country deportations as well.
03:36Thousands of people not from Mexico being sent there.
03:39And I'm curious, do you welcome that, these third country deportations?
03:41Well, there is a number of people that are rejected at the border in the United States.
03:48And out of humanitarian grounds, we have received some of these individuals.
03:54And we provide them with an opportunity to return to their countries of origin.
04:00Or in cases where they require protection in Mexico, we offer them pathways as well.
04:04Give us an update on trade negotiations.
04:06We had Jameson Greer, the U.S. trade representative here at the Council on Foreign Relations,
04:10saying the trade deficit is exploding, in his words.
04:13How close are those negotiations as you see them?
04:15Well, I'm always cautiously optimistic.
04:19We continue to have constructive conversations.
04:22We continue to have positive engagements.
04:25We don't have yet an agreement.
04:28Obviously, we're talking about the different 232 tariffs that have been implemented,
04:34particularly the car industry and the steel sector are of worry for Mexico.
04:40We continue to talk about what the U.S. describes as non-tariff barriers.
04:45I think we've made a lot of progress.
04:47And hopefully, we will get to an agreement in the not-so-distant future.
04:53Likely to see reductions on steel and car tariffs, do you think?
04:56Well, that's our hope.
04:58Optimistic still?
05:00Again, cautiously optimistic.
05:01Cautiously optimistic.
05:02You studied at the University of Chicago.
05:04Yes, there was political theory with Martha Nussbaum and the like.
05:08Also spent a lot of time with David Axelrod.
05:09So you understand U.S. politics.
05:12Given that, I'm curious how you think about the timeline the U.S. is operating under right
05:16now, the administration is operating under with the midterm elections here many weeks away.
05:20Do you see that as a forcing mechanism or something that's shaping conversations about trade in particular?
05:24Well, you know, we try to be very careful about not getting ourselves entangled with U.S. politics.
05:32What I can tell you is that we're obviously watching the elections like everybody else.
05:40And that we will continue to engage with the U.S. before and after, because that is a responsibility of
05:49any government that shares such a big border,
05:51that shares so many interests, including the trade that you just mentioned.
05:55U.S.M.C.A. not renewed with the rubber stamps.
05:58These negotiations are ongoing.
06:00What would it mean for North America were there to be a deal, say, between Mexico and the United States,
06:04but not one with Canada, not one between the U.S. and Canada?
06:07Well, I mean, the framework of the U.S.M.C.A. continues to be trilateral.
06:12There are some aspects that will need to be discussed trilaterally.
06:15But, of course, there are issues that are bilateral.
06:17There have always been aspects of the U.S.M.C.A., previously the NAFTA, that were bilateral in their
06:23nature.
06:24And it's natural for the countries to have also bilateral engagement and to reach some agreements in that manner.
06:31A few questions about Asia, if I could.
06:33You've been shuttling around New York, but you also went back to Mexico.
06:36There was a state visit by South Korea's leadership.
06:38How do you assess the prospects of a Mexico-South Korea trade deal?
06:42Well, I don't think we will get to a free trade agreement.
06:48We're looking more at different agreements that show the complementarities between the economists.
06:54Of course, the conversations will continue to see where we end.
06:59But in the meantime, what we are deepening is our cooperation in several different areas, including science and technology.
07:06artificial intelligence, obviously, the different investments of the Korean companies that are in Mexico, including also Korean culture, K-pop,
07:17that is of great interest.
07:18You're telling the fourth largest market in the world is Mexico.
07:21The fourth largest market for K-pop.
07:23So we're exploring the opening of a K-pop or K-se culture center in Mexico City and the opening
07:32of a Mexican culture center in South Korea.
07:34How about that?
07:35It's going to be interesting.
07:36Our focus here so much this week is on the U.S.-China relationship.
07:39And I'm curious how Mexico's tack toward China has changed under this administration.
07:43Well, obviously, we have had throughout the decades a friendly political relation with China.
07:52We intend to keep it that way.
07:53We have an ongoing dialogue with the Chinese government.
07:57We also have obviously an interest as the rest of the world in looking at the relation between the U
08:09.S. and China going in a positive direction.
08:11So we expect these conversations to go well, to have positive results.
08:17And when it comes to trade, I mean, our focus right now is Plan Mexico, which is centered in bringing
08:29back to Mexico supply chains that have left over the years and to fostering greater added value in the supply
08:36chains that we already have in Mexico.
