I think a lot of scapegoating has been done on NAFTA. The reality is, a lot of the jobs have been lost mostly to technology. And that is something that happens well beyond the reach of NAFTA or any other trade agreement.
— Luis Videgaray Caso
I think we've been able to establish good relationships with people on President Trump's team, and that gives us an opportunity to do better than what most people expect in terms of the relationship. And we are working towards that on many fronts, particularly on trade.
I think TPP, as we knew it, is gone.
Mexico believes in free trade.
Taxes are never popular.
We need to stop illegal weapons flowing from the U.S. into Mexico.
We don't believe trade deals are zero-sum games.
I want to make clear, in the most emphatic way, that the government of Mexico and the Mexican people do not have to accept measures that, in a unilateral way, one government wants to impose on another. That we are not going to accept.
If what is on the table is something that is not good for Mexico, Mexico will step away from NAFTA.
Mexico will under no circumstance pay for the wall that Mr. Trump is proposing.
The wall is not a bilateral issue. It's not something that we discuss with the American government. Every country has a sovereign right to protect its borders the best way that they see fit.
There are lots of things where NAFTA can be updated and upgraded.
We always saw TPP as something that we want to be part of. In the beginning, we were not part of TPP, neither Canada or Mexico. So when we finally joined the negotiations, to us it was an opportunity.
The government needs to work to improve how markets perform.
Mexico is a market economy, but we should have better markets.
The presidency is not a collegial body... He will surround himself with people who share his vision.
If NAFTA goes away, it's not the end of the world. It certainly is not the end of trade between Mexico and the United States.
I think always having somebody that you trust and you know can help in the communication, that is very important.
What would happen if the markets suddenly questioned our ability to keep public finances in check? What would be the effect on growth?
The size of the energy sector in Mexico is just so vast; it has an outsize impact on the rest of the Mexican economy.
We obviously don't like the idea of a wall. It's not a friendly gesture. And my own personal opinion is that it might not even work for the purposes that it's meant to work for.
Mexico is an important country for the U.S. We should not forget that.
We're absolutely open to making NAFTA better.
It's very important that the government is close to the business community and that we understand their concerns. But at some point, the government needs to be a government.
We always think about illegal stuff moving through the border south to north, but people forget that most guns - and we're not talking small guns, we're talking heavy weapons - they get to the cartels and create literally small armies out of the cartels.
I don't know what country's willing to export - for free - the computer scientists, engineers, doctors. It's hard to me to understand.
Mexico is much bigger than NAFTA.
For any country - and that includes Mexico and the U.S. - having good, robust relationships with crucial allies and neighbors, that's putting your country first.
We want to send a clear message that the Mexican government won't endanger its fiscal position, and we will remain on a path of fiscal responsibility.
