This week’s trade news includes rumblings of discontent in Mexico over the potential fallout from the US election, the UK government’s International Investment Summit and a look forward to some of the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade’s upcoming events.
The big picture: President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum expressed her hope that the existing trade arrangement between the US, Mexico and Canada, USMCA, would remain intact following the US presidential election next month.
The FT reports that Sheinbaum said “our idea is to keep the deal with few changes”.
“Our narrative is [that] we complement each other, we don’t compete.”
The USMCA is set to be reviewed in 2026 under whoever wins the coming election, and Republican candidate Donald Trump has suggested he would renegotiate the agreement to achieve more favourable terms for the US. He has also said that firms who invest in Mexico would face tariffs.
Speaking to Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait earlier this week, he said that “if I’m going to be president of this country, I’m going to put a 100, 200, 2,000 per cent tariff [on cars from Mexico]”.
Good week/bad week: A good week for the UK’s beef producers, as new stats published today (18 October) showed that production was up 4% year-on-year with strong demand set to boost prices. The UK has seen a 10% boost to its beef exports following growth in non-EU markets, according to AHDB.
A less positive week for Canada-India relations, which continued their deterioration as Canada accused India of links to "homicides, extortion and violent acts" in the country. As India in turn declares the accusations “preposterous”, concerns have been raised by some over whether the dispute could affect the trading relationship between the two nations. Arif Lalani, consultant and former Canadian diplomat, told the BBC that “people will be thinking twice in terms of expanding trade, or trying to build on what they already have”.
The week in customs: The unique customs arrangements around Northern Ireland (NI) as a result of the Windsor Framework have yet to attract additional foreign direct investment (FDI), one expert suggested this week.
When asked if he had seen evidence of additional FDI, Kieran Donoghue, chief executive of Northern Irish economic development agency Invest NI, said:
“Not to my knowledge, at this point in time, not yet. I think there is still a relatively low level of awareness of the opportunities presented by dual market access.
“There will, in time, be FDI opportunities.”
How’s stat: £63bn – the volume of private investment announced by the UK government this week at its International Investment Summit in London.
Quote of the week: “Like every new president that comes into office, I will bring my life experiences, my professional experiences, and fresh and new ideas; I represent a new generation of leadership.”
US vice president Kamala Harris when queried on how much she would break with the presidency of Joe Biden.
What else we covered this week: We looked ahead to next week’s Chartered Institute’s graduation ceremony, where students will receive certificates for recently-completed trade qualifications. Chartered Institute events director Charlie Laycock said that “it’s a privilege to celebrate with our students each year, who have shown so much dedication to achieve their qualifications”.
Our member-exclusive Commodity in Focus feature looked at a kitchen staple this week: olive oil. With climate change threatening to change the industry, there was some positive news too following a bigger-than-expected harvest.
Export champions also offered their top trade tips this week, including on the importance of planning and getting good advice. Bob Gokani, founder of EziDrops, gave his thoughts, as did OOSC Clothing founder Nick Marsden and Inciner8 commercial director Chris Balmer. All three will be in attendance to provide further insights at 3 December’s Import Export Show, which you can sign up for here.
True facts: It’s 157 years to the day since the US completed the Alaska Purchase, offering Russia the princely sum of US$7.2m for the state.