Ministry of Economy Presents Plan to Work Out Energy Dispute

The Mexican Minister of Economy, Raquel Buenrostro, presented a plan to resolve the energy policy disputes under the USMCA with the US and Canada. The ministry underlined the importance to speed up the consultation period in order to provide assurance to investors who want to invest in Mexico.

“This is especially important for the relocation of companies. It gives legal certainty to their investment plans and helps them visualize how they should integrate their supply chains in Mexico,” pointed out the ministry in an accompanying statement.

The plan presented to US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Canadian International Trade Minister Mary Ng consists of two points. The first proposes to gather a technical task force to clear doubts and explain the decisions that have been taken for Mexico’s energy sector. According to Buenrostro, this will ensure that the third round of questions submitted by the US and Canada are answered as truthfully as possible. In addition, the ministry suggested holding these consultations in Mexico City. 

Secondly, the plan recommends to establish working groups between December 2022 and January 2023 to address different issues, including the legal situation regarding the Electricity Industry Law, amparos requested by private companies, reviewing permits, the transition to ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) and the outlook on pipelines in the north of Mexico.

Furthermore, the document established that the consultation blocks one and two will be worked on jointly with the US and Canada, while the third and fourth blocks will be exclusive to the US and Mexico. 

"We have worked out two solution proposals with the energy sector in accordance with the legal framework to solve two of the consultation blocks…The proposals were shared with my counterparts and details were given on how these solutions would be implemented,” stressed Buenrostro.

On Dec. 1, 2022, Buenrostro made her first official visit to Washington since she became Mexico’s Minister of Economy. "We want to make quick progress so as not to distract the investors and so they do not lose interest in coming to Mexico," she said.

The Ministry of Economy recently revealed that Mexico will invest in the development of 10 industrial parks in the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec for 2023. In this regard, Buenrostro said that three to four of the industrial parks will be assigned to companies that produce renewable energy. “Wind energy will be a priority,” Buenrostro pointed out, as the isthmus is known for its strong winds. The Ministry of Energy is still working on the business model for this project.