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Mexico

More “Defenses” Planned To Protect Mexican Producers

After the tough talk by SAGARPA Secretary Usabiaga reported here last week, cabinet ministers now say they will take a series of protectionist measures to defend the Mexican agricultural sector in the face of U.S. subsidies and the Jan. 1, 2003, elimination of most tariffs for agricultural products under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Usabiaga joined Economy Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez in announcing antidumping duties of 40 percent against U.S. apples and by promising to take measures including providing subsidies to Mexican producers, drafting a more flexible antidumping law that will be faster to apply, and imposing new standards for agricultural products imported to Mexico, most of which come from the United States. The cabinet ministers said that they were acting on instructions from President Vicente Fox to "defend and protect" the Mexican agricultural sector, which employs 25 percent of Mexico's economically active population.