US President Donald Trump’s administration told Mexican officials that they should put their own duties on Chinese imports as part of their efforts to avoid tariffs threatened by Trump, people familiar with the matter said.
US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick was among US officials who conveyed that message at a meeting on Thursday last week in Washington with a Mexican delegation, including Mexican Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard, the people said.
US Trade Representative nominee Jamieson Greer and National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett also attended the meeting.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has bolstered efforts to crack down on cheap imports from China, a move to support domestic industries as well as appease a Trump administration that is threatening 25 percent tariffs on its North American trade partners.
Mexico did not make any commitments on China during the meeting, which ended with an agreement to establish a working group from the two countries to continue exploring trade and tariff issues, the people said.
The Washington meeting was the start of “a constructive dialogue, and joint work would begin on Monday,” Ebrard said in a post on X.
Trump has demanded Mexico and Canada do more to restrict the flow of migrants and fentanyl into the US or face 25 percent tariffs.
Originally set for Feb. 1, the White House delayed implementing those duties for a month. Meanwhile, the US imposed an additional 10 percent tariff on all imports from China.
Separately, Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he would be traveling to Washington later yesterday, as the US ally presses its case to be excluded from tariffs.
“Trade and tariffs will be part of the conversation, but not the whole conversation,” Chalmers said on Australian Broadcasting Corp’s Insiders program.
He said he plans to meet with US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and to highlight areas of economic partnership, including the large investments made in the US by Australia’s US$2.6 trillion pension industry.
While Trump earlier this month agreed to consider an exemption for Australia from tariffs on steel and aluminum, Senior Counselor to the President for Trade and Manufacturing Peter Navarro quickly threw that into doubt, saying that Australia was “killing” the US aluminum market.
“I don’t expect to conclude those discussions on steel and aluminum while I’m in DC,” Chalmers said. “But whether it’s the flow of capital or critical minerals and trade, there’s lots to talk about.”
Chalmers said he would also address the Australian Superannuation Investment Summit, which is being held in the US capital. Large Australian funds invest about one in five dollars of members’ retirement savings in the US, according to a statement issued collectively by representatives attending the event.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
‘DECENT RESULTS’: The company said it is confident thanks to an improving world economy and uptakes in new wireless and AI technologies, despite US uncertainty Pegatron Corp (和碩) yesterday said it plans to build a new server manufacturing factory in the US this year to address US President Donald Trump’s new tariff policy. That would be the second server production base for Pegatron in addition to the existing facilities in Taoyuan, the iPhone assembler said. Servers are one of the new businesses Pegatron has explored in recent years to develop a more balanced product lineup. “We aim to provide our services from a location in the vicinity of our customers,” Pegatron president and chief executive officer Gary Cheng (鄭光治) told an online earnings conference yesterday. “We
LEAK SOURCE? There would be concern over the possibility of tech leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday stayed mum after a report said that the chipmaker has pitched chip designers Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc and Broadcom Inc about taking a stake in a joint venture to operate Intel Corp’s factories. Industry sources told the Central News Agency (CNA) that the possibility of TSMC proposing to operate Intel’s wafer fabs is low, as the Taiwanese chipmaker has always focused on its core business. There is also concern over possible technology leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺)
RSS