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Walmart to invest billions in Mexico despite US tariff threat / Photo: © AFP
NYSE - LSE
Walmart to invest billions in Mexico despite US tariff threat
US retail giant Walmart said Thursday that it would invest more than $6 billion in Mexico this year, despite President Donald Trump's escalating trade wars with Washington's partners and competitors alike.
Appearing at Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's morning news conference, the company's country head Ignacio Caride said that new store openings would generate around 5,500 jobs in the Latin American country.
"Walmart arrived in Mexico more than 65 years ago, and we will be here for the next 30, 60, or 90 years," he said.
Seeking to ease concerns about the outlook for the Mexican economy in the face of Trump's tariff threats, Sheinbaum has invited several company executives to appear alongside her to present their investment plans.
E-commerce behemoth Amazon, its regional rival Mercado Libre, streaming giant Netflix and Spain's biggest bank Santander are among the foreign firms that have announced major investments in recent months.
Speaking a day after Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on all cars that are not made in the United States, Sheinbaum said that the duties were contrary to a North American free trade deal.
"Of course, there should be no tariffs within the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. That is the essence of the trade agreement," she said.
Sheinbaum has repeatedly expressed optimism that US tariffs on Mexican goods can be averted, and Trump has twice granted Mexico tariff relief, which is due to expire in early April.
W. Winogradow--BTZ
