After the US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced a countervailing duty investigation into fabricated structural steel imports from Mexico and China, Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday that the investigation does not affect a new USMCA trade deal. According to a report from Reuters, Lopez Obrador said it also had no relation to Donald Trump’s recent tariff threats, and said he would meet with cabinet members later in the day to discuss the matter.
Mexico’s deputy foreign minister added that “US subsidies on steel are against certain private companies in Mexico, not the wider steel industry.”
However, the minister said that “US tariffs on Mexican structural steel is a ‘new problem’ and Mexico will have to be very active supporting its steelmakers.”