Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said that the Mexican negotiating team will be in Washington from June 15 to 18, two days longer than originally planned.
Talks between the trade teams will continue for several days next week.
Mexico and the United States extended the second round of talks to review the USMCA trade agreement from one to four days. The talks will now take place from June 15 to 18 in Washington, D.C., amid doubts expressed by President Donald Trump.
While the meeting was initially scheduled for June 16, the talks are now planned to run until June 18. Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard even mentioned on Wednesday that, if necessary, they could be extended until Friday.
While the Economy Secretary was speaking at the National Palace, Trump was expressing doubts from Washington about renewing the agreement with Mexico and Canada.
In a press conference at the White House, the president stated: "I don't know if I'm going to renew it because, to be honest with you, the United States is doing much better. Look, we don't need anything that Canada has, we don't need anything that Mexico has, but they need everything that we have."
During Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum's daily press conference, Ebrard explained that he will travel to Washington, D.C., next week, where he and his team—which will include Altagracia Gómez and Ambassador Roberto Lazzeri—will meet with their counterparts.
"On the 18th, I have a long meeting with the U.S. lead negotiator for the review. So, we'll be focused all week," Ebrard said.
The official also stated that July 1st is not a date for the conclusion of the talks: "It's an established procedure for initiating the treaty review," he said.
In this context, a third round of talks is scheduled for the week of July 20 in Mexico City, and will focus on finalizing outstanding issues in preparation for the joint review in 2026.
On other occasions, the official has stated that in these meetings he will present a proposal backed by Mexican industry, and the main objective will be to maintain Mexico's relative position, which pays lower tariffs than the other countries.
However, this position excludes from the negotiations the goal of achieving zero tariffs for Mexico, including sectors such as automotive, steel, and aluminum.
The prevailing market expectation is that the treaty will remain in place, but with annual reviews, at least under the administration of Donald Trump.
Ebrard made these statements during the conference where Mercado Libre's $4.6 billion investment in Mexico was also officially announced.
https://www.lapoliticaonline.com/mexico/economia-mx/mexico-y-eu-extienden-segunda-ronda-del-t-mec-en-washington/
