A trade delegation of Arizona leaders, including Gov. Katie Hobbs, is in Mexico City this week to meet with officials and business leaders from Arizona’s top trading partner.
The meetings come in the wake of new tariffs from the Trump administration on certain goods from Mexico.
There’s a feeling of “cautious optimism” at the talks, even with lingering uncertainty about how the Trump administration’s new trade regime will pan out, says President and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce and trade delegate Todd Sanders.
Trump administration policies could affect the billions of dollars a year that flow across the border between Arizona and Sonora.
“There is enough water under the bridge between not only our two states, but between the two countries, that there is confidence that going forward, especially in the longer term, we’re going to be in a good, if not better, place from a trade perspective,” said Sanders, who is also on the board of the governor-appointed Arizona-Mexico Commission.
Sanders said Hobbs is looking into how the USMCA is working on both sides of the border, ahead of a possible renegotiation of the trade agreement between Mexico, Canada and the United States next year.
The delegation is talking to representatives from industries including aerospace, financial services, semiconductors and telecommunications in Mexico.
“Really the idea is to create opportunities for our Arizona companies,” Sanders said. “But also … inviting Mexican companies to look at Arizona as a place for them to invest as well.”