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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 000149 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D COPY (PARA RENUMBERED) 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/MEX/ROTH, WHA/EPSC/MARTILOTTA, WHA/CAN/SPROW, 
WHA/AND, INR/B, AND EB/TPP/RECHT 
STATE PASS USTR FOR EISSENSTAT/MELLE/SHIGETOMI 
COMMERCE FOR ITA/BASTIAN/RUDMAN/WORD 
USDA FOR ONU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD EAGR PREL PINR MX VE
SUBJECT: MEXICO'S NEW TRADE CZAR - BEATRIZ LEYCEGUI 
 
 
MEXICO 00000149  001.4 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) The Secretariat of Economy's new Sub-Secretary for 
International Trade Negotiations, Beatriz Leycegui, is a 
seasoned trade hand (she was a Mexican NAFTA negotiator and 
has since worked in the private sector as a trade lawyer and 
consultant) and committed to maintaining good commercial 
relations with the United States and deepening NAFTA.  During 
the initial courtesy call paid by Embassy's Ag, Commercial, 
and Econ sections, she asserted that the U.S., as Mexico's 
most important trading partner, would be her top priority, as 
demonstrated by the fact that her first official overseas 
trip had been to Washington, D.C.  She promised to work 
closely with the Embassy on all the issues in her portfolio, 
and seemed ready to help make successful the upcoming visits 
of Commerce Secretary Gutierrez (February 1) and Agriculture 
Secretary Johanns (tentatively scheduled for February), as 
 
SIPDIS 
well as the Western Hemisphere Conference on Competitiveness 
to be held in June in Atlanta. 
 
Mexico Complies With Its Obligations, Expects Same From US 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Leycegui pointed out that the first major task she 
handled upon assuming her current position was ensuring that 
Mexico's Congress amended the law governing the country's 
anti-dumping regime and eliminated the 20 percent tax on 
beverages sweetened with anything other than cane sugar, both 
changes mandated by WTO rulings in favor of aggrieved U.S. 
exporters.  She also asserted that Mexico would fully comply 
with its NAFTA obligation to open up its corn and bean 
markets at the start of next year.  She said this move made 
economic sense, but would require deft political handling. 
She agreed that our two governments need to come up with a 
public relations strategy for presenting it in the most 
favorable light possible.  She then pointed out that Mexico 
expects the U.S. to keep up its side of the bargain as well, 
referring to the cross-border trucking issue and discussion 
of it during her January 4 meeting in Washington with 
Department of Transportation Under Secretary Jeff Shane.  One 
of her deputies, Director-General for Negotiations Ken Smith 
Ramos, pointed out that an early resolution of this issue 
would be a major victory for the Calderon Administration in 
refuting the arguments of Mexico's NAFTA critics, but noted 
that likely opponents back in the U.S. were already 
mobilizing. 
 
Outstanding Trade Issues Raised with Deputies 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Leycegui had to depart early for another meeting, 
but Smith and fellow Director-General (for Trade Policy) Jose 
Saenz stayed on to discuss specific issues.  Neither Smith 
nor Saenz, both holdovers from the Fox Administration, had 
seen the letters written by Treasury Deputy Secretary Kimmitt 
and U.S. Trade Rep Schwab late last year to their respective 
Fox Administration counterparts regarding the Fireman's Fund 
investment dispute.  Emboff subsequently passed copies of the 
letters to them to share with Leycegui.  With regard to the 
longstanding pending applications for accreditation in Mexico 
of U.S. certification organizations (UL, Intertek), Smith 
said Leycegui had been fully briefed and was committed to a 
speedy resolution, something the outgoing Fox Administration 
had hoped, but failed, to accomplish.  Smith said Leycegui 
plans to discuss the issue soon with her fellow Sub-Secretary 
Arce, who is responsible for such certifications.  It was 
Smith's understanding that Economy Secretariat lawyers were 
finalizing a legal opinion that would side-step resistance 
from Mexican private organizations that were holding up the 
process. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Smith and Saenz then raised the following issues of 
concern to them: 1) Mexico hopes to get the necessary USDA 
certification to allow Mexican poultry from a processing 
plant in Yucatan to be exported to the U.S. (Embassy Ag 
MinCouns noted that USDA cannot act until the Mexican ag 
authorities certify the plant); 2) Mexico would like to talk 
with us about sugar policy in light of the fact that our 
respective markets will be integrated when the final barriers 
to sugar trade among the NAFTA economies are removed on 
January 1, 2008; 3) Mexico is interested in discussing NAFTA 
 
MEXICO 00000149  002.3 OF 002 
 
 
export subsidy provisions in light of Doha round developments 
and in the hopes of avoiding pressure to lodge anti-dumping 
cases against U.S. exports of sensitive agricultural products 
like beans and milk; and 3) Mexico is very interested in the 
ongoing U.S. litigation over imports of Mexican tuna and 
would like to be informed as quickly as possible of any new 
developments that might require a Mexican response (Embassy 
Commercial MinCouns agreed to provide an update). 
 
Venezuela Trade Feelers Get No Response 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Commenting on recent press reports that Mexico was 
interested in negotiating a new trade agreement with 
Venezuela to replace the G-3 accord from which Chavez 
withdrew last year, Smith said that, despite some optimistic 
interventions from the Venezuelan Embassy here, there 
appeared to be no interest in talks, at least yet, back in 
Caracas.  Mexico and Venezuela are not big trade partners, 
but Smith and Saenz noted that bilateral trade is important 
for several niche industries (like steel and auto parts) in 
both countries. 
 
Still No Position on P4P/SPP Alphabet Soup 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) When asked about the future of the Partnership for 
Prosperity (P4P), Smith asked whether the U.S. believed that 
it had effectively been assimilated into the trilateral 
Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) framework.  Smith 
said there was still no official Mexican position, as the 
Office of the Presidency had not yet had time to focus on 
these initiatives.  He predicted that the upcoming SPP 
ministerial and leaders meetings in February and June, 
respectively, would force the bureaucracies in all three 
North American countries to decide how to take these forward. 
 
 
Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity 
GARZA