Mexico To Establish Assessment Body On Foreign Investment

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and her Mexican counterpart Rogelio Ramírez de la O have announced their, "intention to establish a bilateral working group between the United States and Mexico on foreign investment review."

• According to a statement, "the MOI recognizes the importance of the U.S.-Mexico economic relationship, the benefits of maintaining an open investment climate, and the critical role of effective investment review mechanisms in addressing national security risks that can arise from certain foreign investment, particularly in certain technologies, critical infrastructure, and sensitive data."
• Yellen will say at a presser: "Bilateral trade with Mexico reached over $850 billion in 2022 and Mexico became America’s largest goods trading partner this year... The United States continues to pursue what I’ve called friendshoring: seeking to strengthen our economic resilience through diversifying our supply chains across a wide range of trusted allies and partners."
• Reuters notes: "The nearshoring boom brought Mexico $32.2 billion in foreign direct investment in the first three quarters of 2023, close to the total of $36 billion for the full year of 2022."
• Reuters reports that the effort is likely to develop an assessment body similar to the US Treasury-run Committee on Foreign Investment of the United States (CFIUS).
• Yellen told reporters that although the CFIUS has reduced Chinese investment in the United States it is not her intention to limit investment in Mexico unless it comes with associated national security concerns.