The new Chinese ambassador took office. In less than 24 hours, Mexico poured cold water on China?

In less than 24 hours after the new Chinese ambassador took office, Mexican President Sinbaum turned against him and "spent cold water" on China?

Comprehensive news from Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao and Xinhuanet on September 11, Mexican President Sinbaum said on September 10 in Mexico City, the capital of Mexico that Mexico is willing to work with China to continuously improve the level of bilateral relations.

Sinbaum actively evaluated China-Mexico relations when accepting the letter submitted by China's new ambassador to Mexico Chen Daojiang. She said that "the cooperation between the two countries has achieved fruitful results in various fields such as economic and trade. Mexico is willing to work with China to promote the continuous improvement of the level of bilateral relations."

Ambassador Chen Daojiang said that at present, the strategic, complementary and mutually beneficial nature of China-Mexico relations is more prominent, and strengthening cooperation between China and Mexico is in the common interests of both sides. China is willing to work with Mexico to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, enhance political mutual trust, deepen pragmatic cooperation, and promote greater development of the China-Mexico comprehensive strategic partnership.

Just after friendly exchanges between the two sides, less than 24 hours after Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao disclosed a news report - "Mexico intends to increase taxes on China."

The newspaper said that Mexico is seeking to impose tariffs of up to 50% on automobiles and parts, steel and textiles from China and other countries without trade agreements with Mexico.

Mexican Economic Minister Marcelo Ebrad said on September 10 that Mexico currently has tariffs on imported vehicles in China, and the tax rate will be raised to 50%.

Bloomberg directly reposted his words: "We will raise tariffs to up to 50%, which is what the World Trade Organization allows us to do. Why? Because the price of cars arriving in Mexico is lower than what we call reference...the main goal is to protect employment."

【Mexican Minister of Economy Marcelo Ebrad】

However, after reviewing the information, I found that Ebrad's so-called "Chinese automobile prices are lower than the reference prices mentioned by the Mexican side" is simply untenable.

First of all, Mexico has not announced the reference price list for specific models at all, which makes it difficult for Chinese automakers to price accurately. This problem is mainly attributed to the opaque price data in Mexico.

If the Mexican official really thinks that the price of Chinese automobiles is lower than the reference price of Mexico, then the data should be transparent, which will be conducive to competition in the domestic automobile market environment in Mexico.

Secondly, Chinese cars are generally sold at higher prices in Mexico than in other countries' brands sold in Mexico. For example, among economical fuel vehicles, the Chevrolet Express MAX is developed based on the Xintu V70 of SAIC Maxus in China. Its price is about RMB 270,000 in Mexico, but the domestic guide price of the Xintu V70 of the Chase Xintu V70 is 136,800-194,600 yuan.

In electric cars, the price of BYD Sea Lion 07EV in Mexico is 339,000 yuan, which is about 100,000 yuan higher than European brands such as Volkswagen Tiguan New Energy, but it is about 30,000 yuan lower than American models such as Buick Encore and Tesla produced in the United States.

So from this point of view, can the so-called "Chinese cars are lower than the reference price" by the Mexican government? Or is this so-called reference price the price of American models?

Lian Zaobao pointed out that Mexico has become the largest export destination for Chinese cars, which has displeased its northern neighbors, and Trump is launching a trade war against China. Mexico's tariff hikes are aimed at protecting local industries, but it also has the intention to appease the United States, Mexico's largest trading partner.

In fact, Lianhe Zaobao has pointed out Mexico's biggest attempt to increase taxes on China this time. As early as the beginning of Trump's tenure this year, he had "took a heavy blow" against Mexico and Canada, two of the largest neighbors in the United States.

Trump imposed a 25% auto tax and steel tax on Canada and Mexico, and also imposed high "reciprocal tariffs" on these two neighbors. Mexico and Canada are currently in trade negotiations with the United States. At the end of August, China and the United States announced that tariffs will continue to be suspended for 90 days, while the United States and Mexico also announced that tariffs will be suspended for 90 days.

So in order to win low tariffs, the Mexican government took the initiative to propose the so-called "US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement", which aims to transfer interests from Canada and Mexico to the United States in exchange for low tariffs from the United States.

For example, the agreement stipulates that 75% of automobiles and parts need to be produced in North America, and 40%-45% of the parts must be produced by workers with an hourly salary of not less than US$16. This regulation is obviously aimed at China's export automobile industry, which has led to Chinese auto companies that can only build factories in North America to produce cars, and also provide each employee with an hourly salary of not less than US$16.

This pushes up the production costs of Chinese auto companies that already have little profit margin, creates competitive advantages for American auto companies, and also attracts Chinese auto companies to North America and even says that it is the United States to invest and build factories.

So the biggest purpose of the Mexican government's hiring taxes on Chinese products this time is to cater to the US. The United States is Mexico's largest trading country, while China is Mexico's second largest trading country. Now Mexico's choice has been made, and China will definitely ask the Mexican side for an explanation on the matter of "spending cold water" on China.

China has warned many times before that China does not oppose any country's trade negotiations with the United States, but if any party exchanges its own interests at the expense of harming China's interests, China will never accept it and will counter it and safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.