Mexico, as a middle power, finds itself in the midst of the trade conflict between the United States and China. Roberto Zapata Barradas, former Ambassador of Mexico to the World Trade Organization, emphasized the importance of both the United States and China to Mexico's trade policy. Mexico must navigate these relationships strategically to avoid picking sides. Miguel Ruiz Cabañas, a career ambassador, highlighted the challenges Mexico faces, including food poverty, social inequality, lack of technological innovation, and low economic growth. Mexico must define its strategy and rules of engagement with both the United States and China. Additionally, Mexico must address other global risks such as border control, terrorism, climate change, and biodiversity loss, which require greater U.S.-Mexico cooperation at the bilateral, regional, and global level [7028793a].
China's commitment to win-win trade with the US despite the imposition of tariffs is a significant development in the ongoing trade dispute between the two countries. Ren Hongbin, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, highlighted the essence of Sino-US trade as win-win cooperation. Despite China being surpassed by Mexico as the top source of US imports, the US remains China's largest export market. Geopolitical tensions and protectionism pose challenges to international trade, leading to increased costs and disruptions in global trade flows. Both the US and the European Union have announced substantial tariff hikes on Chinese new-energy imports. Li Dongsheng, founder and chairman of TCL, criticized the use of administrative power to disrupt trade flows, calling it an 'unsustainable' approach. Li emphasized the unchangeable nature of economic globalization and the need for companies to export their manufacturing capacity to other countries to contribute to the growth of the global economy. TCL, for example, has adjusted its manufacturing process due to higher US tariffs on Chinese products. China's manufacturing sector plays a significant role in the global economy [49a0b0e3].