Mexico, Canada announce joint economic action plan for a post-USMCA future

Mexico and Canada are aiming to deepen their economical integration via a associated enactment program that volition beryllium unveiled successful the 2nd fractional of the year.

Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced the inaugural connected Monday aft gathering successful Mexico City with Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s curate for Canada-U.S. trade, intergovernmental affairs and the Canadian economy.

Dominic LeBlanc (L) said helium felt “privileged” to beryllium capable to enactment with Ebrard (R) “at what is simply a captious infinitesimal for our countries and the North American relationship.” (@m_ebrard/X)

Ebrard told reporters that Mexico and Canada are preparing an “action plan” successful bid to “expand investment, summation commerce, trim regulatory difficulties oregon obstacles, and facilitate the concern and the commerce betwixt our countries.”

He said that the program volition beryllium presented successful the 2nd fractional of 2026, and indicated that it volition absorption connected associated initiatives related to minerals, concern successful ports, infrastructure and proviso concatenation security.

Cooperation connected information issues besides looks acceptable to beryllium a diagnostic of the associated enactment plan. Ebrard dismissed a proposition that the abduction successful Sinaloa of 10 employees of a Canadian mining institution would impact Mexico’s narration with Canada. However, LeBlanc stressed that Canada, successful bid to summation concern successful Mexico, volition request to spot the Mexican authorities “working connected priorities” specified arsenic security.

The announcement of the bilateral enactment program comes up of the ceremonial reappraisal of the USMCA escaped commercialized pact, which includes Mexico, Canada and the United States. The U.S. authorities has imposed tariffs connected a scope of Mexican and Canadian goods since President Donald Trump returned to the White House successful January 2025, a determination that has angered the United States’ neighbors and served to bring them person together.

Ebrard connected Monday acknowledged that times are “uncertain,” but asserted that uncertainty “always” creates “opportunity.”

“We person a large accidental successful beforehand of us, which is to summation our relationship,” helium told Canadian officials and hundreds of concern representatives who made the travel to Mexico to research concern opportunities.

“… We request to summation the beingness of Mexican exports and investments … successful countries similar Canada. This is simply a necessity,” Ebrard said.

“… We are not successful a comfortableness portion arsenic we were successful the past,” helium said.

Ebrard highlighted that the commercialized and concern narration betwixt Mexico and Canada has grown twelvefold implicit the past 30 years, and prompted citizens of some countries to “imagine what tin beryllium accomplished successful the adjacent years, starting now, if we person the will, … the committedness to summation our relationship.”

“… It makes sense, it’s astir our information successful the future, it’s astir opportunities for concern and to larn from each other. You tin ideate [the] pharmaceutical industry, you tin ideate [the] aeronautical industry, [the] abstraction industry, precocious manufacturing successful our countries, refined minerals, captious minerals, galore fields which person been explored successful the past, but [which] tin beryllium explored successful different ways successful the adjacent years,” helium said.

“Robotics, drones, artificial intelligence, vaccines, caller technologies and medicine, everything tin beryllium done,” said Ebrard, who described Canada arsenic a “very reliable spouse for Mexico.”

“… We person the tremendous accidental to commencement to enactment successful this direction. … So we are very, precise happy. I deliberation it’s precise bully quality for Canada and for Mexico,” helium said.

For his part, LeBlanc said helium felt “privileged” to beryllium capable to enactment with Ebrard “at what is simply a captious infinitesimal for our countries and the North American relationship.”

“So I conscionable wanted to accidental successful beforehand of our Canadian and Mexican friends however overmuch I worth and however overmuch Canada values your engagement, Secretary Ebrard, and we convey you very, precise much,” helium said.

LeBlanc noted that helium was accompanied successful Mexico by “over 240 organizations and much than 370 concern leaders from crossed Canada, representing each 10 provinces and 1 territory.”

Más de 400 empresas participan en el encuentro entre empresas canadienses y mexicanas que inició esta mañana . Crecer y diversificar nuestro comercio es la meta . pic.twitter.com/G6BauvyIxw

— Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard) February 16, 2026

“The unthinkable level of involvement generated by this commercialized ngo is simply a testament to Canada’s committedness to a renewed and sustained concern with Mexico,” helium said.

LeBlanc’s sojourn to Mexico came 5 months aft Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with President Claudia Sheinbaum successful Mexico City. At the time, Carney said that Canada and Mexico were “beginning a caller epoch of elevated cooperation,” portion Sheinbaum declared that the bilateral concern would “bring a caller epoch of further strengthening economical ties.”

Bilateral backstage assemblage dialog ‘largest’ and ‘most important’ successful years, says Ebrard  

Ebrard noted that hundreds of Canadian concern assemblage representatives traveled to Mexico to prosecute with Mexican companies successful Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey.

“[This] is the largest and astir important dialog betwixt [the] backstage sectors [of] some countries successful caller years,” helium said.

In Mexico City connected Monday, Mexico’s Business Coordinating Council (CCE) and the Business Council of Canada signed a memorandum of understanding, which, according to the CCE, “strengthens a imperishable dialog mechanics and concern practice betwixt some countries.”

Canadian concern representatives and LeBlanc besides met with Mexico’s Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente and different national officials.

Ebrard noted that Mexican officials and concern representatives volition marque a reciprocal sojourn to Canada astatine an unspecified date.

In Mexico, the Canadian concern delegation — which volition stay successful the state until Friday — volition “focus connected areas including precocious manufacturing; agriculture, processed foods, and cultivation technology; cleanable technologies and cleanable energy; originative industries; and accusation and communications technologies,” according to the Canadian government.

In a connection issued past Friday, the Canadian authorities said that “in the look of a shifting planetary economical landscape, Canada is moving to diversify and fortify its planetary commercialized relationships to guarantee that Canadian workers and businesses tin thrive.”

LeBlanc told CNN connected Monday that Canada’s commercialized ngo to Mexico was the largest the state has organized “in decades, and astir apt ever.”

He said that Canadian companies and concern organizations are “interested successful seeing however we tin grow our two-way commercialized with Mexico.”

“… I was told this day that much than 2,000 business-to-business meetings person been acceptable up,” LeBlanc said.

When CNN writer Gabriela Frías enactment it to him that “pressure from the Trump administration” has forced Canada and Mexico to question greater engagement with each other, the Canadian curate responded:

“I wouldn’t unreal to talk for the authorities of Mexico, but for the authorities of Canada that’s perfectly true. And Mexico for america is simply a precise reliable partner. There are heavy people-to-people taste ties, concern leaders successful Canada that speech to maine astir their relationships with Mexican companies — it’s precise positive. But there’s an accidental for america successful the look of immoderate of the headwind created by the [U.S.] tariffs.”

Mexico’s exports to Canada surged successful 2025

Data from the nationalist statistic bureau INEGI shows that Mexico’s exports to Canada were worthy US $22.16 cardinal past year.

The fig represents a 17.3% yearly increase, but is nevertheless dwarfed by the worth of Mexico’s exports to the United States.

INEGI data, cited successful a study by the paper El Economista, shows that Mexico’s imports from Canada were worthy $12.55 cardinal successful 2025, a 3.9% alteration compared to the erstwhile year.

In an sentiment nonfiction published successful The Globe and Mail connected Monday, Catherine Fortin LeFaivre, elder vice president for planetary argumentation and planetary relationships astatine the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, wrote that “although we often perceive of Mexico arsenic Canada’s third-largest trading partner, it lone accounts for 1.1 per cent of our exports, oregon 3.6 per cent of our two-way trade.”

She wrote that “investing more” successful the narration with Mexico “isn’t conscionable bully diplomacy for Canada,” but besides “smart strategy.”

“… Mexico offers an evident and underused opportunity,” Fortin LeFaivre wrote.

“With a colonisation of 133 million, a increasing mediate class, akin clip zones, and a wide openness to deeper collaboration with Canada, it checks galore of the boxes,” she wrote.

“… Strengthening ties with Mexico isn’t lone astir diversification. It’s besides astir leverage,” Fortin LeFaivre said, adding that “a deeper, much resilient partnership” with Mexico could beryllium beneficial during this year’s USMCA negotiations with the United States.

With reports from El Economista, El Financiero and La Jornada