By Dave Graham and Adriana Barrera
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico wants to make swift progress in talks with the United States to resolve an energy dispute to give companies confidence about investing in the country, Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro said on Wednesday.
Washington and Ottawa in July demanded dispute settlement talks with Mexico over its energy policies, prompting Mexico to work to solve the complaint to avoid a dispute panel being called.
Buenrostro last week made her first trip to Washington since taking office in October, and her deputy, Alejandro Encinas Najera, said a third round of consultations on the dispute should be held between late December and early January.
“We want to make quick progress so as not to distract the investor and so they don’t lose interest in coming to Mexico,” Buenrostro told reporters at a news conference.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has moved to shake up the market in favor of Mexico’s state-owned energy firms, prompting the United States and Canada to complain it hurt their companies.
In a separate dispute over the interpretation of regional content requirements for the automotive sector which pits Mexico and Canada against the United States, Encinas said a preliminary ruling had already been reached on the matter.
That ruling would be made public around Jan. 13, he said.
North America is also battling high levels of inflation, and Buenrostro said Mexico was reviewing quotas of certain products to stimulate trade to keep prices under control.
Asked about the ouster of Peruvian President Pedro Castillo on Wednesday after he threatened to dissolve Congress, Buenrostro said she did not believe the events in Lima would affect the stability of the Pacific Alliance trade pact.
(Reporting by Dave Graham and Adriana Barrera; Additional reporting by Cassandra Garrison; Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
