Mexico Energy Monitor

March 22, 2023

US energy trade groups press Biden to take Mexico to task on USMCA

• Pressure is building on the Biden administration to take action to resolve the dispute launched by US Trade Representative Katherine Tai last July against Mexico for unfair access to the nation’s energy market under the USMCA free trade agreement. 

• The American Petroleum Institute (API) teamed up with the American Clean Power Association, and National Association of Manufacturers sending a letter to Tai March 10 insisting Mexico would not fix USMCA energy issues on its own and that strong US action is required. 

• The letter in part read, “It appears that the administration of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador [AMLO] will not change the course of his country’s energy policy without continued, direct and forceful pressure from the U.S. government.” 

• It added the trio of organizations “respectfully urge that the Biden administration continue to hold Mexico accountable by using every tool available to enforce the USMCA.”