"I believe that the time when the two Governments have greater communication to have an approach or strategy that can eventually lead to negotiations for a treaty is near," said Raul Urteaga Triani, an official at Sagarpa.
"A trade agreement would, undoubtedly, benefit the sector greatly. We have 20 highly competitive products that currently account for 95 percent of our agricultural exports," said the federal official.
He said that among the products with high potential that would be placed on the Korean market with tariff preference included beef and pork, avocado, beer, tequila, mango and berries.
In an interview, Urteaga Triani said their direct competitors in Latin American, which are also part of the Pacific Alliance (Chile, Colombia, Peru), have bilateral agreements with Korea.
"Those Latin American countries that are part of the Pacific Alliance already have a bilateral agreement with Korea. Mexico doesn’t, and that puts us in a tariff disadvantage,” he said.
The also noted that, despite the respectful position of other productive sectors of the country that are against the possible negotiation of a trade agreement between Mexico and Korea, the agricultural sector would be highly benefited.
Raul Urteaga didn’t rule out initiating a new trade relationship with Korea, through an agreement, and later migrating to a free trade agreement between both nations.
Source: Info7